


Do you remember?

by Sheenah



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Drama, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Reunion Sex, Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:09:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheenah/pseuds/Sheenah
Summary: Post-Degeneration : After the events that took place at the airport of Harvardville and at the Wilpharma facility, Claire Redfield suddenly feels the need to visit the tomb of someone she thought was gone forever...
Relationships: Steve Burnside/Claire Redfield
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

Do you remember?

The fall season had finally settled down, but a constant warm breeze kept playing with the woman’s hair as she walked down the silent path filled with dead but colourful leaves. On each side of her, rows of tombstones were stoically reflecting the last sun rays of the day.

Step by step, the woman went further in the territory of the dead until she reached the end of the path. However, the purpose of her visit was still feet away. She had to cross more rows of tombstones which were beginning to be less organized, the stones being scattered around, breaking the symmetry of the previous ones.

The woman continued to walk on the cold grass, her feet barely making any sound, excepting the seldom crisping of the dead leaves. She walked forward until she reached a solitary tombstone. It was small, barely as glorious as the rest of the symbolic stones of the deceased, but it was clean and still polished, revealing its recentness. It also had a beautiful golden coloration because of the setting sun.

A forlorn sigh escaped the visitor’s lips. She stood quietly in front of the stone. She didn’t dare to approach it without saying something. The warm breeze continued to tug and toss her hair that was always pulled back in a neat ponytail. She never really liked them down anyway. Putting her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket, the woman stared at the name carved into the stone.

That name. She hasn’t said it since so long. She then wondered if she would be able to pronounce it correctly without feeling the guilt, the pain, the remorse she thought she had lost seven years ago. But she was alone and no one would judge her except herself. She thought it was a bit silly to speak out loud to a rock, but she did it anyway, knowing that it would do her some good.

“Hi, Steve…

It’s been a while, eh?” she finally said, somewhat content that she didn’t break into tears like she would have done a few years ago.

“I know that I haven’t visited you since long ago…sorry about that,” she continued, suddenly feeling her heart getting heavier.

“Something happened the other day…something big. I was coming back from a work trip and I had to meet a colleague at the Harvardville airport, but the place got infected by the T-Virus…can you imagine that? I had to fight zombies again…! It’s been now seven years since the last time I had to confront them. I never thought I would again…”

The red-head woman then stopped speaking, looking sadly at the non-responsive stone. The sun was slowly disappearing, creating a halo of light around the monument. A small smile found itself on the woman’s lips.

“But don’t worry. I didn’t get hurt badly. You know how stubborn I can be. I also met Leon. It’s been a while too. The last time I saw him was even before meeting you…Meeting him brought back memories of Raccoon City, but also of what had happened afterward. And…I’m a bit ashamed of saying that, but I had suddenly remembered you and how we had to fight together to survive. I guess it’s the reason of why I am standing right here at this moment.

But don’t think I have ever forgotten about you…”she whispered, feeling her heart tightening even more. “Hey Steve…do you know why I joined Terra-Save?” she then asked, staring at the tombstone.

Since the red-head figured it wouldn’t respond, she took a step forward and crouched down to be closer to the only concrete representation of her lost friend.

“I joined them because of _you_. Yes, because of you, because I felt so guilty, so ashamed of myself when you died. I had promised you that we would escape together…but you certainly know that I was naive to believe that…You have no idea how terrible I felt when I realized that I couldn’t do anything to save you…

That’s why I joined the organization. I thought that if I could help victims of bio-terrorism, I could pay my debt to you and have the feeling that I’m doing something right… something that I could be proud of. Something that would ease my guilt…”

The woman stopped once again from talking. The sun was almost gone. She had so much more to say, but she hesitated. She was getting to something deeper, more personal, and she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to say it out loud, or even think about it. She could still remember clearly every detail, every moment, every struggle of her misadventures on Rockfort Island and in Antarctica, but the feelings she had had for the boy back then remained clouded and confusing. She was pretty sure that it hadn’t been love, but she knew she had been quite attracted to him in many ways. She had considered him as a friend and a partner, not that she hadn’t thought of them being closer, but it would have been futile anyway. Steve died.

And he was still dead.

There wasn’t a body under the tombstone. The bastard with the name of Albert Wesker had stolen it because of the dormant virus that was flowing in the boy’s vein. But Steve was still dead. She was there when he gave his last breath, his last look in her eyes, his last smile…She was there when his body went entirely limp and got cold as ice. She was there when he had whispered those last words.

She was there when Steve Burnside died.

But now, it was so way behind her. She had moved on. She got a job and a nice apartment. She had a cute kitten waiting for her return from work each day. She had made some nice friends. She had also thought about having a relationship, but she was still wondering if she was ready for it. It sure could get lonely when she would find herself watching TV during the evening with her kitten on her lap. But, the idea of caring for someone who could ultimately _die_ prevented her from thinking about it too seriously. She didn’t know if that state of mind was solely because of the loss of Steve or because of her experiences with the undead in general. One way or another, she still feared of reliving what happened in that dark room in the Umbrella base seven years ago.

But that aside, the woman could consider herself being happy and somewhat lucky…if the events at the Harvardville airport hadn’t happened. Zombies. Again. It was as if she was begging for more. But that time, nothing catastrophic happened beside the return of painful memories…

“Hey, Steve…do you remember when we were in that plane? I fell asleep against you…you were so warm…so, _alive_. It’s strange to say that now, but I felt comfortable with you. I knew you were trying very hard to protect me. I was happy. Knowing you were there for me and I was there for you. But that still led to…the inevitable.”

Her words then ended there, sensing that feeling of guilt appearing once again. But the woman shook her head. She knew that the boy died so she could live. She should feel grateful for that. She was, but it was so much more complicated.

“Hey Steve…do you remember when that freak Alfred found out he was dressing himself as his sister? It’s so funny now that I think about it,” she continued, chucking a little bit. “He was really fucked up. But I also felt some pity for him; being separated from his sister for so long…I know how that feels. Oh and, Chris has joined an organisation called B.S.A.A. They’re fighting bio-terrorists. I think it’s nice, but he’s still exposing himself to danger…eh, I’m still worrying for him. I should grow up, don’t you think?”

Another pause. The cemetery was completely silent. The sun was definitely gone and only some scattered lamps were providing light to the place. The temperature had also lowered and the woman found herself stroking vividly her arms. It was about time to go.

“Oh and Steve…do you remember when you said you would take me to Hawaii? Well…I’m still sad that it didn’t happen. But you know what? If I ever go there, I’ll make sure to enjoy myself in your honour. You can count on that…”

Sighing once again, the red-head was about to say her goodbyes and leave, but she suddenly heard the crackling sounds of dead leaves not far from behind her. She didn’t move nor turned around. She cursed inwardly when she realized she wasn’t armed. She got that bad habit of being paranoid, thinking that Umbrella, even if it was gone, would get back to her somehow. When she didn’t hear the person moving, she thought about confronting it squarely, but a somewhat sensuous voice prevented her from even breathing.

“Sure feels weird to see your own name on a tombstone…”


	2. Chapter 2

“Sure feels weird to see your own name on a tombstone…”

Claire’s whole body couldn’t move. Her mind didn’t really register what the newcomer just said as the only thing she could think of was _danger_. Defending herself was the first thing that came to her mind as she swiftly turned around and stepped back to put as much distance between her and the stranger as possible.

The man was hidden in the shadows of the cemetery. It was hard to see him clearly. But surprisingly, Claire didn’t sense any hostility coming out of him. He just stood there, probably waiting for her to say something. But Claire knew better. Maybe it was only a plan of his, to get her to trust him so he could take advantage of her afterwards. The Redfield girl then resigned herself to shut her mouth for now, eyeing the man and waiting for him to make his move.

She heard him sigh, as he passed a hand through his mid-long hair. Now accustomed to the darkness, Claire could decipher a few things from the person in front of her. He was taller than her, but not that much for a man. He wasn’t large, but not too scrawny either and was wearing dark clothes under his leather jacket. He also looked young, maybe in his mid-twenties. Before she could even utter a word, the man took a step forward and took the liberty to speak first:

“C’mon Claire, don’t you recognize your knight in shining armour?”

“W-what? Who are you?” swiftly responded the young woman, taken aback by the man’s words. That voice was awfully familiar. And that “knight in shining armour” thing...This wasn’t right...

To her dismay, the man stepped forward. His face was now partially revealed by a nearby lamp. Claire couldn’t suppress the surprise from her face and eyes when she gasped loudly in the chilly air of the night.

That face.

Those red locks of hair.

Those _lips_...

Claire felt her knees weakening and it took all her strength to stand still. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It couldn’t be him...No, he was dea-

_There wasn’t a body under the tombstone._

Yes, there was no coffin. There were just earth and rocks under that tombstone. It had been symbolic for her; to buy and put that tombstone in that secluded area of the cemetery. It had allowed her to move on. It took her some time, but she had finally accepted the fact that he was truly dead and that he would never come back.

But the man right in the front of her was currently shattering that delusion she had had for so many years now. He wasn’t dead. Or else he wouldn’t be smiling at her, right? Unless this was another illusion? Maybe the incident at the Harvardville airport had shaken her up more than she had expected?

She didn’t know anymore. Reality and fantasy. Fantasy and reality. Which one was true? Either way, she was pinned to the ground as “Steve” was slowly walking toward her, barely making any sound. She could smell his cologne, sweeping through her like a balm on her emotional wounds. It smelled foreign, but oh so familiar at the same time. So familiar that it swelled her heart painfully. She couldn’t resist anymore as fresh tears started pouring down her lovely face. She felt like falling down but a strong arm encircled her small waist, keeping her solid as soft fingertips touched her face, wiping away her tears.

It was at that exact moment that Claire Redfield realized that she was in Steve Burnside’s arms after seven years of doubt, grief and guilt. She was in his arms in a dark cemetery, in front of a gravestone with his name carved into it.

“St-Steve...I-” stuttered the girl as she buried her face in the man’s shoulder.

“It-It’s okay...I’m sorry I showed up like this, you must be surprised...” responded the red-head as he awkwardly started stroking the brunette’s hair.

“S-surprised?” suddenly exclaimed Claire, pulling herself from their embrace. There were still traces of her tears on her cheeks, but her eyes were now showing confusion and disbelief.

“You’re supposed to be dead, Steve! Of course I am surprised! I can’t believe you are right here in front of me like that!”

She was trying to sound angry, but her whole body was shaking. Steve could understand that. He was actually. But he had been so happy to finally see her again. As he looked at her, her watery eyes and wavering lips, he only wanted to hug her again. But he had to take things slowly. It had been seven years after all...

“I get all that, Claire...I just didn’t know how I could present myself to you...I wanted to see you so badly....” he almost whimpered.

He expected her to move or do something, but she only stood there, barely three feet away from him, staring at him with that incredulous look on her face. But he could see the longing in her eyes. Before he could continue explaining himself, Claire opened her mouth:

“How did you find me...?” she whispered, her arms now crossed over her chest. Steve realized that it was getting chillier. He hated the cold.

“I was sent to check on the situation at the Harvardville airport. I saw you, but you were with other people. I waited for you to return home so I could see you alone...”

“Wait. You were “sent”? What do you mean by that?” she interjected, her brow furrowing.

Steve only heavily sighed in reply. She could clearly see that he was uncomfortable with the question. She then noticed that he was shaking as he zipped up his leather jacket.

“Hey...you cold or something?”

“I can’t stay in the cold for too long....can’t we go somewhere else and I’ll explain everything to you?” he then said staring hopefully in her blue eyes.

“My apartment is not far away...I guess you can come” she said reluctantly, but Steve could see a smile on her lips despite the dark.

“So...you living with someone?” finally said Steve after a much-awkward moment of silence. They were walking at a somewhat rapid pace down the street leading to Claire’s apartment. The night was calm and the street was seemingly void of random pedestrians or cars. But the cold was persistent and made them want to reach a source of warmth as soon as possible.

A sly smile crossed Claire’s face as she swiftly responded: “Yes, I do,” making sure to look directly at him.

The expression on his face was priceless as he kept watching in front of him, his jaw slacking, his eyes opening wide. He looked utterly disappointed and Claire couldn’t resist any longer when he turned to look at her, trying to not sound too surprised: “A-ah...really?”

She burst out in laughter, filling up the cold air around them. Steve’s quick change of color of his face didn’t help as Claire continued to laugh, clutching her sides with her arms.

“W-what did I say?” asked the perplexed red-head, now that they had stopped walking, Claire too caught up in her hilariousness to be able to move.

After a few seconds, Claire managed to calm down, wiping the tears out of eyes and taking deep breaths. “Boy...I never laughed that much since...since I don’t know when!” she gasped out, giggles still preventing her to talk correctly.

“Can you now tell me what’s so funny about you living with your boyfriend?” retorted back Steve, a hint of jealousy in his voice. He wanted to sound angry but he was amused by Claire’s outburst at the same time. Seeing her like that reminded him of Rockfort Island when she had tricked him when he had traded his lugers for her submachine guns. And that memory brought a warm feeling to his chest. She hadn’t changed much after all those years. Yes, she looked a bit different, but she still had her trademark ponytail and those lovely features on her face. And she probably kept the same perkiness she had back then. He could already feel the reasons of why he had fell for her.

“B-boyfriend?” exclaimed the young woman as she got into another fit of laughter while looking at Steve with so much amusement in her eyes. The man started to get annoyed by her attitude she could tell. She then settled to stop her outburst.

“I never said anything about living with my boyfriend. I’m living with my kitten,” she finally said and she sheepishly grinned after seeing the immense relief on Steve’s face.

“O-oh…oooh! I t-thought…” stuttered Steve, now feeling quite embarrassed.

“I have to admit that it was easy to come to that conclusion. But I didn’t have a date in years” she added, the slightest sadness in her tone. She tried to conceal it by smiling at him.

“Why is that?” asked Steve, curious.

“I don’t know,” she lied. “I didn’t feel like dating anyone since everything that had happened back then…” she continued as they returned to their walking, Claire’s apartment building not far away.

Steve would have wanted to say something in return but he didn’t know what. He just kept walking beside her, wondering about the things that would happen once he entered Claire’s place.

*****************************

They were indeed welcomed by a small black and white kitten the moment Claire opened the door to her apartment. It was desperately mewling, probably being very hungry.

“Oh baby! Mommy forgot to give you food when she came back from her trip!” exclaimed Claire as she crouched down, stroking lovingly her cat. Steve smiled at that. He always loved cats.

The young woman then hastily went to the kitchen, the little animal hot on her trail. Various clunking sounds were emitted as Claire was probably looking for the kitten’s food. She reappeared in the entrance of her small, but comfy-looking apartment, a large smile on her face.

“Well? What are you doing? Come on in!” she said. The man happily complied, taking off his short boots and stepping in the area separating her kitchen and her living room. He then noticed a closed door a bit further in the back. _Most probably her bedroom_. A small corridor to its right was again probably leading to the bathroom. It wasn’t a very big apartment indeed, but for a lone young woman like Claire, it was surely enough.

“So…this is my little home,” said Claire, cutting Steve from his thoughts.

“It’s nice,” he said, looking back at her.

She softly smiled in response. “Well….can I offer you a coffee or something? I have the feeling we have a lot of things to say.”

Steve couldn’t agree more as Claire motioned him the kitchen table where he sat contently. The day had been long and he wasn’t too sad to finally rest a bit. “Well, actually, do you have hot chocolate?” he asked, grinning in a juvenile manner. When Claire looked back at him, she could immediately see the little kid that she had had the chance to see a few times on their zombie adventure years ago. Despite his age, he still had that goofy side of his. How old was he anyway? She remembered he was younger than her by a year or two. She guessed he was around 24 or 25. But thinking about that brought her back to the reality of him being alive, something that she still couldn’t believe.

“I guess I could have one myself as well” she replied, looking for the milk in her fridge. Yes, he was alive. And he said that he was “sent” to Harvardville. What was that all about? She had so much questions running through her head she thought she would have a headache.

While preparing the hot beverages, she turned her head back to look at the man. He was patiently waiting at the table, his piercing green eyes going all over her. She couldn’t suppress a hint of embarrassment from his gaze and despite her will to look away; she returned the stare, scanning him more correctly under the kitchen light. He had taken off his black leather jacket and was wearing a plain and form-fitting dark grey sleeved top. His hair was longer than back then and also seemed a bit darker. But it still had that red tint to it that she had found original. Bangs were also hiding his left eye like she remembered. One could consider it as “emo” fashion, but Claire had always found it cute and mysterious at some point. She was never really the type to judge people’s tastes of fashion anyway.

“Like what you see?”

“Huh?”

Steve must have been aware of her intense examination as he was grinning back at her, his eyebrows wiggling playfully. That immediately made her look away, her face flustered.

“S-sorry. I must look like an idiot, looking at you that way,” she stuttered, trying to finish preparing the hot chocolates.

“Nah. I feel flattered being watched so… _intensely_ by a beautiful girl like you,” replied Steve, not moving from his spot, the grin still plastered on his face.

Claire almost dropped the mugs when she turned around to bring them to the table.

“W-what are you saying?” she babbled, finally being able to deposit the beverages on the table. She then sat down beside the young man.

“You don’t like compliments? Thanks.” He said as he grabbed his chocolate and brought it to his lips after blowing off some of the steam.

“Well, yes, but that’s not the point!” she replied, her eyes looking down. She took a slow sip of her own mug.

“Then, what is?”

“This…this whole situation. You being alive…I just can’t believe it!”

“I knew it wouldn’t be easy…but you have to trust me, Claire. I am truly alive. And I’m finally able to see you after so long…” At that, Steve slowly put his hand over Claire’s. The girl dared to look back at him directly in the eyes and that’s when she realized that something wasn’t right.

“Do you…wear contacts?”

The young man was taken aback, his hand leaving hers. “Heh. I knew you would notice.”

“So, I’m right?” she replied, curiosity filling her eyes.

“Well, yeah. You need to know that coming back to life had…certain side effects,” he said as he brought his hands to his eyes and slowly removed his green contacts. He hesitated at first, but he then looked back at Claire, somewhat fearing the girl’s reaction.

And she did react. At first, her eyes only widened, but then her mouth opened and he could hear a surprised gasp coming out of her throat.

“Oh, god…”

“I know…they’re so…weird…so disgusting…” he said as he looked down, trying to avoid her gaze.

Claire couldn’t really agree. Yes, they were kinda shocking, but at the same time…so mysterious, so extraordinary. She remembered Albert Wesker’s eyes, which had more of a resemblance to cat’s eyes with their slit pupil and red tint. But Steve’s were different. They were of a surprising golden shade with a reddish rim around round pupils. They reminded her of…Alexia’s eyes. Yes. Steve got infected by her virus after all. It seemed logic that he maintained some similarities. Speaking of which, if he were alive in that instant, it could only mean one thing…

“Steve…you’re still…infected, right?” she barely whispered.

The young man heavily sighed as he without any hesitation put back on his green contacts and blinked a few times to adjust them.

“I would be dead if that weren’t the case,” he just replied.

Yeah, she already figured that. But she didn’t know what else to say and hoped that Steve could at least help her out by talking about his current condition. She caught his gaze, his fake green eyes perfectly hiding his golden ones. She secretly wished he didn’t put the contacts back so quickly. She felt as if she were some kid who couldn’t stop staring at someone who lost an arm or a leg. The out of ordinary had always nurtured the human’s curiosity and Claire was no exception to it. However, she knew that it wasn’t really the time to ask him; she first wanted to know what had happened to him after he was stolen from her seven years ago.

“I don’t really know the story in details, but a woman who took care of me when I woke up told me that I’ve been in a cryogenic state for 5 years, so my body could adapt itself to the T-Veronica virus. She said it took 15 years for Alexia to be in symbiosis with it…” At that, Claire silently nodded, remembering what the madwoman had told her brother and her in Antarctica. “…but since she had injected me with the virus coming from her own body, they figured out that it wouldn’t take me as long to adapt my body to it. And thus, 5 years were enough. I woke up 2 years ago…”

Claire could only look at him speechless. She couldn’t conceive the idea of someone being brought back to life that easily. He had really died, right? She remembered embracing his freezing cold and lifeless body, desperately looking for a pulse. But there was none. There was none and still…

He was looking at her with a faint smile on his lips; his eyes showing so much tenderness that it made her heart suddenly skip a beat. She also remembered that look…right before he died…the last words he never got to utter…

The girl felt uneasy as she felt her cheeks burning. It had been so long, and yet, she still had those images so clear in her head. Did **he** remember them?

“You know what was the first thing on my mind when I woke up?” he asked, his chin resting on his hand, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Eating a cheeseburger?” she replied innocently, trying to lift up the weird tension around them.

“That would have been more of your style” he smirked, suddenly feeling his shoulders loosening up. “But, no. It was…you,” he corrected, his smile widening.

“Me?” said Claire, surprised but also…flattered.

“Well, yeah…guess it’s normal since you were the last thing I saw before I…you know…” he trailed on, knowing she knew what he meant. And she did as she stared at him with a mélange of sadness, pity and compassion. The young man never got to know what she thought of him back then, but now she was standing right in front him, breathing and totally real, he almost regretted confessing to her. But, damn…She exactly looked the same, with those big blue eyes and that soft-looking hair. 

“What about you?”

“What about me? Well…” she replied, taking a moment to actually remember what happened after her brother saved her and took her away from the horrors that happened in the Antarctic. Flashes of restless nights and mourning days appeared in her mind. She remembered how the first weeks had been painful to her. The slightest thing could make her think about Steve, causing her to cry or just feel miserable for the rest of the day.

She winced at those thoughts. She didn’t want to remember and she certainly didn’t want Steve to know about those. She then tried to recall something big that could have happened. “After the Antarctic, my brother and I went into hiding for several weeks. We were both wanted by Umbrella after all,” she started, Steve looking at her with interest. “We hid in various countries, along with Chris’s old partners from S.T.A.R.S. I don’t really remember how long we did that. But somehow, things settled and it was less dangerous to live in the open. Chris wanted me to go back to college, to start a new life,” she said, almost in a whisper, her eyes showing both anger and sadness. “After everything, I knew I couldn’t really go back to a “normal” life. I wanted to help. I wanted to do something like Chris. But he didn’t want me to risk my life. So, he found me a place where I could stay for a while and have a small job. I stayed there for maybe 2 years. I agreed to make him happy and so he wouldn’t worry about me, but I was still unsatisfied.”

“What was your job?” asked Steve, shifting a little his weight on the chair.

“I was working as a mechanic in a motorcycle place,” replied Claire, smiling a bit. “You know how I love motorcycles, so I couldn’t really complain. But it wasn’t what I wanted deep down,” she added, taking a sip from her hot beverage.

“You wanted to take down Umbrella” said Steve, knowing it wasn’t a question.

Claire looked directly at him, a fierce look in her eyes. “Yes,” she started. “Like you probably heard me in the cemetery, I felt guilty, about you, about those people I couldn’t save,” she continued, looking down. “It was maybe two years ago when Chris called me and told me he found an organization that was helping biohazard victims.”

“Terra-Save.”

“Yup. I was happy. For once, I could be useful in the field and they found me rather reliable considering I had survived two outbreaks. Most of my coworkers didn’t believe me” she added, chuckling. “And you know about the rest…” she finished, taking another sip from her chocolate.

Steve looked at her, an indescribable expression on his face. “Wow. Seemed more interesting than my five years of coma” he laughed and Claire couldn’t help but to join him.

They laughed for a minute or two, feeling relieved from all the tension that had been built up in their bodies. It was sincere and felt good.

Claire then finished her mug and saw that Steve was done with his. She slowly got up and brought the mugs to the sink, feeling a bit lighter than she was when she entered her apartment. She heard Steve stretch and yawn behind her and she suddenly wondered what they would do now that their little explanation time was over.

Turning back and leaning on the counter, she gazed at the man, still barely able to believe he was actually there. He caught her gaze and for a short moment, they looked at each other, not feeling the need to speak or move. Just looking. And this made Claire remember the moment when they escaped from the island, Steve piloting the plane. How they had looked at each other like that, how she felt attracted to him despite how she had thought of him when they met. How she had felt that she was bound to be with him till the very end. Back then, she couldn’t conceive that that “end” was closer than she would have ever thought. And that thought made her heart ache for a second. Just a second, because her mind was screaming to her that Steve was back and he was there with her, in her kitchen. He was back and she had the possibility to do everything she wished to do with him. She then suddenly felt her cheeks warming up and her lower body twitching as certain thoughts, private thoughts, decided to snake their way into her mind.

_“Jesus girl…you’ve been alone for too long…”_ she thought with a mix of amusement and disdain for herself.

Steve must have noticed her change of reaction as the corner of his smile twitched in a funny way. He was about to say something when Claire immediately cut him:

“So, what do you want to do?” she asked hastily, finally breaking their staring contest.

Steve was taken aback as he lost what he wanted to say. “Oh, huh…I…” he stuttered, making Claire giggle for some reason. He then regained his composure as he smirked back at her. “Well…I’m open to any suggestion,” he said grinning, wiggling a little his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

Claire found herself blushing at his reply, unsure about what he was really thinking. She knew he was attracted, well, _had been_ , to her, and she remembered all those little moments back on the island and in the Antarctic where he was trying to flirt with her despite their situation. How he called her “cute” when she was almost on the verge on dying from fright or how he made those little explicit, but funny nonetheless, jokes while they were fighting. She couldn’t exactly say that she hated the attention. He had been doing a great job at lifting up the mood, that’s for sure.

But now that they were far from being in a survival situation, the brunette wondered if the young man was already thinking about…well, if he was already making sexual advances. Not that it surprised her. She couldn’t deny the longing she felt for him too, but if that was the case, things were going a bit too fast for her. She was still in the process to accept that he was alive and breathing in her apartment. She didn’t want to do something she might regret later either.

Suddenly, an idea popped in her mind. A _very_ good idea.

“Hum, well…let’s see….how about we go dance?” she finally replied after what seemed an hour.

“Dance?” repeated Steve, surprise filling his face, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

“Yeah, go dance in a club you know, with DJs and bars and all that stuff,” she replied, smiling.

Dance. A club. Steve realized with a mix of sadness and amusement that he never done anything of that sort. Heck, he didn’t even make it to his prom dance as he got captured and _killed_ before that. He certainly didn’t have experience in dancing and clubbing. Claire, on the other hand, probably went many times as she had been living a more normal life than he did. He could feel the bitter taste of jealousy filling his mouth but he quickly ignored it. It wasn’t like it was their fault, of either of them.

“Uh, yeah, why not? I just never really danced before…” he said, scratching his cheek with his finger, feeling a bit embarrassed by his lameness.

Claire wanted to say that she was surprised, but then she remembered that Steve die- was taken away when he was barely 18. There’s no way he could have gone to a club she realized. That somehow made her feel bad, but on the other way, this would be a very interesting experience for her and him.

“No sweat. There’s a start for everything” she replied, smiling warmly and Steve suddenly felt better.

The young woman then moved away from the counter and approached Steve who was still sitting at the kitchen table.

“I guess you don’t have suitable clothes to go in a club, hmm?” she asked, grinning.

Steve scoffed back in reply. “I wasn’t sent on a week-long mission, so nope. I only have the strict minimum…” he said, immediately regretting his words as he saw Claire’s expression change into a deep frown.

“Tell me, Steve. Who are you working for?” she asked, her voice getting cold.

The man felt like joking but he knew that Claire was too damn serious about it. Fuck. There was no way he could tell her, that would put her in immediate danger. It was already risky to go to her place. But the young man wanted so much to see her again. He needed a way to satisfy her curiosity.

He sighed, trying to find the words. He knew Claire wouldn’t give up that time. “I’m…”working”, as they like to say, for what used to be a rival company to Umbrella. But now that Umbrella is done for, they just continue their little business. I’m not fully aware of everything they do. They’ve used the t-Veronica virus in me to create experiments and…weapons. But for what? I can’t say,” he started, trying to avoid Claire’s serious stare. He couldn’t tell if she believed him. He wasn’t actually lying since he **really** didn’t know everything about the Organization. Only what was happening in his section. “At first, they would only run tests on me, to see my capabilities and all. I was aware they wanted to use me for something…”

“A weapon?” interjected Claire.

“More or less. I never got to…kill or do dirty work,” he replied, looking sincerely into her eyes. “They rather used my immunity to the T-Virus and the other viruses to conduct experiments with the bio weapons they created or make me a bodyguard for the higher-ups. That kind of thing.”

Claire sighed in reply. She seemed a bit more relieved but Steve could tell she didn’t believe him entirely. He never got to kill a _human being_ , but he couldn’t count the times he had to cut into pieces people who turned in zombies or other unimaginable creatures for those “experiments”. And he would never admit to Claire the _thrill_ he felt each time he would tear apart those…“beings”, had they been human or animal before.

“Alright…” finally said Claire, giving up on the subject. She somewhat knew Steve didn’t want to talk about it, and it was maybe better to not know everything.

“How long can you stay then? For the night I hope,” she added, probably oblivious to the connotation of her last words.

“Oh, hum…I can leave tomorrow no problem. But if I stay longer, they might suspect something,” responded Steve, standing up from the chair, his back sore from being in the same position.

“Do they track you or something?” asked Claire, putting her hands on her hips, a habit of hers that Steve had noticed back when they first met.

“No. They trust me enough. They know that I have nothing in this world, that I belong with them. But it has to remain that way. So I’m asking you if it’s alright if I stay longer with you. You have to understand that it still might be risky…I could always leave…”

The young man was surprised when he felt Claire’s warm finger over his lips, silencing him.

“Don’t say more. You’re going to dance with me whether you like or not. “Risky”? When had my life stopped being risky, hmm? Oh, maybe before the Harvardville incident, but you know…my life can’t be boring for too long” Claire replied, winking at him. She then removed her finger from his mouth and stepped back in the direction of her bedroom.

“I’ll go look for some clothes for you. I’m sure I have something that I had bought for Chris a while ago…” she continued before disappearing in her room for a few minutes.

Steve heavily sighed in the kitchen. He started to wonder if it was a good idea. But to the point where he was, there was no going back. He had wanted to see her. And he was right in her place. Alone with her. And they would go dance and have fun like normal people. And maybe he would kiss her. And maybe they would finish the night in her bed like in all those Hollywood movies. He felt his cheeks burning at the thought. He could also sense some action down in his pants. Man, he felt like a fucking _teenager_. But considering the five years he spent acting as a mummy in a capsule, he could say that he was still a teenager. The thought made him cringe and surprisingly his arousal disappeared. His body was of a 24-year-old man and he had to live like one, despite him being not so… _human_ anymore. Or else, Claire wouldn’t be so much interested…

The young man never got to finish his thought when the Redfield girl reappeared in the kitchen, holding clothes in her arms. He could see dark jeans and a short-sleeved white top with some silver and black designs on it. It was actually of his liking.

“I had bought this for Chris a while ago, but he said that it was too small for him. But I knew he just didn’t like it. He couldn’t just admit it” she said, chuckling. “I kept it in case of…of I don’t know what” she laughed and Steve grinned back at her, taking the pieces of clothes from her.

“Well, I like it and I’m sincere,” replied Steve, winking.

“Good!” exclaimed Claire before turning on her heels. “I’ll go change too. You can use the bathroom, I’ll be in my room,” she added as she once again disappeared in her bedroom.

Steve just stared at the clothes and felt his heart race. He wondered what Claire would be wearing. He knew that she was more masculine than most girls so he doubted to see her in a skirt or short dress. He then shrugged off the thought and went in the bathroom to change. Unexpectedly, it fitted him perfectly. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and saw that the top was somehow accentuating his arm and torso muscles. Maybe that’s why Claire’s brother didn’t like it; he was probably not the type to show off his body…

But Steve didn’t mind since he was actually proud of his shape. Not that he was really bulky. Far from it. But he has always been a good mix of lean and muscles for his height. He was maybe a bit bigger than he had been back then.

He then checked if his contacts were correctly adjusted and ruffled a bit his hair like he always had the habit to. Once done, he went back to the kitchen and saw Claire drinking a glass of water at the sink, fully changed.

Steve then forgot to breathe for a second.

From where he was standing, he could see she was wearing dark faded low-waist, _very_ low-waist, jeans that were showing her toned midriff and a ruby-colored sleeveless top that was entirely laced in the back. She didn’t seem to wear a bra under it. She was also wearing a black choker and her hair was, like always, pulled back in a ponytail with some lose bangs falling on the sides of her face. It seemed sexier than before, but he couldn’t pinpoint why. When she turned back to look at him, he saw that she put more make-up, her eyes circled with black eyeliner, her lips shining with rosy gloss. He had to admit it. She was sexy. _Too damn sexy_. He felt himself exploding already.

The night was going to be long.


	3. Chapter 3

Downtown, the streets were busier in the chilly air of the evening, the roaring of the engines masking the soft sound of wind against the remaining autumn leaves on the trees. A certain taxi car among other vehicles was leading its customers to the _Red Lagoon_ , the hottest dance club in town. Inside, on the back seat, a couple sat silently, their hands merely touching like shy young teenagers on their first date.

It was a bit cold in the taxi, but Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside felt very hot for some reason. Hot with eagerness. Hot with excitement.

Claire tried to do some clean-up in her mind, but all she could think of was the young man sitting beside her and his warm hand against hers. She unconsciously licked her lips and gulped down saliva. Her heart was beating furiously and she felt like she would faint if that damn taxi wasn’t leading them to their destination in less than ten minutes.

She had a car but she had judged safer to take a taxi to go to the club, considering they would most probably drink over there. Steve didn’t complain and even offered her a certain amount of money for the travel. She had looked at the money a bit surprised, instantly wondering where he got it. Were his “employers” paying him for what he was doing? Or was that money only for his expenses during his so-called “missions”? When she had seen him looking at her with some hesitation/carefulness in his eyes, she had quickly changed her attitude and smiled while gratefully taking the money. Steve had only shrugged in response, probably trying to not look bothered, but they both knew it hadn’t been the case.

However, now that they were in route for a wonderful – hopefully - evening, neither of them thought about Steve’s money or job. They could only think about bodies dancing, bright colorful lights, fancy blue drinks. Freedom. Entertainment. Steve in those nice form-fitting jeans constricting his fine and muscular buttocks. Claire in her tight ruby top caressing the lustful curves of her blossom.

_Oh, man…_ thought Steve as he felt himself having an erection right in that taxi as they hadn’t even reached the doors of the club. He tried to not look at Claire, to not draw unnecessary attention, but he saw at the corner of his eye that she was looking outside, her face tinted red. For a horrible second, he thought she knew, but when he looked down he noticed how his jacket was successfully hiding his, dare he say, shameful reaction. No, she was blushing for another reason and by the way she was rubbing her thighs together, Steve concluded that she either wanted to go to the bathroom or was as excited as he was.

_Look at how pathetic we are…I guess we both needed this…_ mused Steve, looking through his window, finally spotting the hot red neon of the _Red Lagoon_. _About time! I’m feeling all sore, being stressed out for nothing in that taxi!_ thought the young man for the last time as he paid the driver and helped Claire out of the car, even though she obviously didn’t need his help. It was just a nice thing to do.

“Thanks,” said Claire, clearing her voice after a long 15 minutes of silence. She took his hand even though she didn’t need it; it wasn’t like she was wearing a fancy dress or a cumbersome skirt. She appreciated the attention nonetheless, thinking about how she never got to date someone like that. She only remembered the summer when she turned 16 and how her brother’s friend had asked her for a walk in the woods while they were camping. When they came to that part of the woods with a large patch of grass. How he had asked her to sit down and drink a beer. How his hand had suddenly found itself on her almost naked thigh. How…

“Claire?” asked Steve, while shaking lightly her shoulders. The young woman snapped out of her memories and realized she was standing on the sidewalk right beside the entrance of the club. She could hear the thundering sound of the bass. She looked back at Steve and for a second, she thought he was also part of her memories. But when he placed his cold hand against her cheek, she knew he was real. And worried.

“Sorry, I just remembered something…and it wasn’t really nice,” she smiled, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jacket. “So? Shall we go? It’s freezing outside” she added as she started walking toward the entrance.

“Don’t tell me you were thinking about your last boyfriend,” replied the young man as he caught up to her, his hands also hidden in his jacket. The cold air had cooled him down, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before the heat of the dance floor would take over him.

“Not exactly…I never really had a boyfriend before, you see,” she said as she entered the lineup. Luckily, there were barely seven people in front of them. They wouldn’t stay out very long.

“I guess your brother had a lot to do with that, no?” said back Steve as he leaned against the exterior wall of the building.

“Yeah…and the fact that I broke the nose of his friend,” she slyly smiled.

“What? Why did you do that?” asked the red-head, stupefied. He knew she had guts…but her brother’s friend?

“Oh, he just tried to get in my pants when I was barely 16 and that he was 22…” she responded nonchalantly, but he could see the hurt in her eyes. “We weren’t dating either,” she clarified as she read the confusion on Steve’s face.

“So, when he got all over you, you went Rambo on him?” he smirked.

“Basically, yes. And my brother finished him off. I never saw that guy again,” she scoffed, laughing a little bit, her ponytail slightly moving behind her head.

“You Redfields…are terrible people!” exclaimed Steve as he pretended to step back. That made her laugh louder. “It’s a good thing your brother isn’t around here, or I would be dead by now!” he added laughing, his back hitting the wall again. He then saw her moving closer to him, a soft and warm expression on her face.

“You’re different, Steve…” she started, her face almost touching his. “And…I’m older than you, don’t forget that!” she finished, grinning widely as she moved forward, the club bouncers motioning them to enter. They didn’t bother asking them for their ID as they both looked way older than the permitted age and the night was still quite young.

* * *

The second they stepped inside the _Red Lagoon_ , both young adults were attacked by a wave of deafening sounds, heat smelling like sweat and cologne and a cocktail of vivid and twitching colorful lights. If Claire didn’t seem much bothered by the total change of environment, her male companion couldn’t block the blows as he staggered sideways not far from the cloakroom. His eyes were tightly shut and he seemed to have a hard time breathing as he brought his hands to his ears.

Claire hurried to his side, one of her hands holding his shoulder while the other touched his burning cheek.

“Steve? Are you alright? What’s the matter?” she hastily asked, her face painted with utter worry for the young man. She heard the girl taking care of the cloakroom say something, but she ignored it. Steve was now crouching, heavily panting. He wanted to speak, but only clipped words came out of his mouth.

“Too…loud…bright…music…”

“What? If you’re not feeling well, we’ll just leave, okay?” replied the brunette as she crouched next to him, trying to analyze his strange behavior. But as the second stretched, Steve seemed to calm down, his breathing slowing down and returning normal. He then opened his eyes and looked at her with a deep frown on his face.

“Sensory overload…”

“What…?”

“Sensory overload,” he repeated as he kept his voice low. “The virus gave me enhanced senses…I just never experienced something that…hardcore…” he explained as he lightly shook his head as if it could have ridden it of the experience he just had.

“So…all that music and those lights…it irritated you?” replied Claire as she got on her feet with Steve.

“You could say that…but…I’m okay now. I just needed to get accustomed to it,” he smiled to her, conscious he got her worried for nothing. Still…she was quite cute when she was worried. However, it wasn’t something to tell her at that moment.

“We’re not on the dance floor yet…what if you have some…some sensory breakdown there?” she said, blocking him with her body from moving on.

“Claire, I’m fine. Really. And if something happens, we’ll just leave, alright?” he answered as he warmly put his hands on her shoulders.

The girl just looked back at him and saw sincerity in his eyes. It was supposed to be a fun night for the two of them. If he said he was okay…he was okay, right?

“Alright…” reluctantly said Claire, slightly moving her body to let it him step toward the cloakroom.

The young employee, barely 20, Claire could tell, looked at Steve with a mix of awe and curiosity. She didn’t even try to pry out her eyes out of him as he turned around to remove Claire’s jacket from her shoulders. He then swiftly removed his own, and placed the two pieces of clothing on the counter, the girl’s eyes still glued on him.

“Two, please,” said Steve as he smiled at her. It took a few seconds for the girl to react as she quickly fluttered her eyelashes, her mouth opening and closing like a dumb fish.

“Oh...huh? Two?” finally said the employee with a squeaky voice.

_“Oh…huh? Two?”_ repeated Claire in her head, wincing, as a hint of jealousy engulfed her. She had to admit that Steve was really standing out from all those generic blond/brown haired guys with a serious lack of brain power, the kind that was usually roaming the club. Maybe it was the red hair. Maybe it was his (fake) green eyes, or maybe it had to do with the virus. She couldn’t say. But it was obvious that he was good-looking, and not only to Claire.

The young woman suddenly felt protective over the man. But those feelings were quickly scattered as she saw Steve in front of her, snapping his fingers right in her face.

“Earth to Claire? You okay?” he grinned, his face so close to hers that she instinctively took a few steps back.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. You?” she hastily replied, her face burning for some unknown reason to her.

“Yeah, I’m good now. Shall we go?” he said as he offered her a hand.

The Redfield girl hesitated for a second and then took his arm and pressed it against her as she led him toward the dance floor, making sure to look at the crumpling face of the girl attending the cloakroom. 

She smirked.

* * *

The dance floor wasn’t completely full, but a good amount of people were already dancing to the loud beat of the new hit songs such as _Hung Up_ by Madonna and _Listen to your heart_ by DHT. Far from being Claire’s favorite songs, but she wasn’t exactly in the _Red Lagoon_ for the music.

She repeatedly looked at her dance partner as they made their way toward the center of the illuminated dance floor, fearing he might have a seizure any moment. However, except his wide opened eyes and agape mouth, he seemed quite fine.

The young man must have sensed her staring as he turned his head and looked at her with a big grin on his face.

“This is awesome!” he exclaimed over the loud music.

“You saw nothing!” cried out back Claire, grinning and succumbing to her own enthusiasm. She removed herself from his arm, grabbed his hands and took giant steps toward an empty spot on the dance floor. As they started to dance on the final notes of _Listen to your heart_ , one of Claire’s personal favorite songs of the moment started to blast from the gigantic speakers.

As she quickly got into the mood, her body moving in synchronization with the song, she realized after a few seconds that her male companion was barely moving.

“Aw c’mon, Steve! Move!” she laughed out as she grabbed his hands and made jerky movements with them.

“I-I don’t know what to do!” he shamefully replied, nervously laughing.

“Just…move!” said the girl as she seemed drawn into some sort of trance, her favorite part of the song making her body move expertly like some professional dancer.

Steve kept staring at her, noticing how her body was vacillating, and felt himself starting to move as well, his legs finally following the repetitive beat. When the girl opened her eyes, she saw him dancing with his entire body, clumsily, but not badly. She smiled as she stepped closer to him, her hips moving to the rhythm of the music, her arms and her hands lightly brushing against his body. She saw him smiling back at her and the two of them continued to dance to Eric Prydz’s hit song _Call on Me._

The song seemed never-ending, but Steve didn’t mind as he enjoyed watching Claire dancing, a huge smile on her lips. She looked so happy. And he was too. All of this looked like a wonderful dream and he suddenly feared that he would wake up from it and find himself in his dull grey room in the Organization base. But the thundering waves of the bass, the smell of sweat and alcohol, the smell of Claire’s shampoo, all of this was real. Happiness seemed to overcome him as he felt his throat getting dry.

He needed to drink.

At last, the techno song was replaced by another one; much less to Claire’s liking it seemed as she suddenly stopped dancing. She frowned when she saw the expression on Steve’s face. She immediately put a hand on his arm and brought her face close to his so they could hear each other.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, getting a bit worried.

“I’m thirsty,” he simply replied and the girl only smirked, taking his hand and leading him out of the bright and noisy dance floor. They passed a few groups of people, some of them, boys and girls, not even making the effort to hide the fact that they were staring at their fine rears. Claire simply ignored them while Steve was surprised to hear himself growling lowly at the dumb-looking guys checking out his date like raw meat. His anger was however quickly replaced by surprise when he felt Claire jerking him almost violently toward the nearest bar.

Steve glanced at the bartender and then back at Claire, unsure of what to do.

“What do you want to drink? I’m paying” said the young woman as she fetched for some dollar bills from one of her jeans back pockets.

“Oh hum…uuh…I’m not sure. What are you getting?” he replied nervously, trying to not sound too much like an amateur. He could tell he was failing as he heard the bartender chuckling a bit.

“I’ll have a Sex on the Beach, please” said Claire to the man behind the counter.

“Huh, make it two!” hastily added the young man, making the bartender chuckle even more as he started making the drinks.

“Goddamnit” breathed out Steve as he turned his back on the bartender, his elbows resting on the counter, his head low making his red bangs hide his eyes.

“Aww, c’mon, Steve. Don’t feel bad for _that_ ,” said the brunette, trying not to giggle. She could understand Steve’s feelings though. It was this whole “man pride” thing. She couldn’t really blame him. It was his first time going out like that. In fact, it occurred to her that a lot of the things they were doing that night were probably a first to him. Dating a girl. Dancing in a club. Drinking alcohol. Her mind then slipped to another thought as she saw her Sex on the Beach waiting for her on the counter. Steve probably never slept with a girl. Or anyone for that matter.

Well, she hadn’t either. In a long time anyway.

And somewhere in the back of her mind, she had the feeling that this fact wouldn’t be true anymore by dawn. The thought violently stirred the lower region of her abdomen and she felt her cheeks reddening. To counter the effect, she quickly grabbed her drink and took a long sip, enjoying the sweet taste of fruits and alcohol.

_Been a long time since I drank one of those…_

After jugging down almost half of her drink, she saw Steve staring at her in such a juvenile manner. He looked like some kid who caught his mommy doing something very strange.

“What?” she asked, her voice cracking with amusement.

“N-nothing,” he stuttered as he grabbed his own drink and took a small sip. His face immediately lit up when the colorful liquid made it passed his throat. “Heeey, that’s good!” he exclaimed as he took another sip, this one a bit longer.

_Should I tell him that this is considered a girl’s drink?_ mused Claire as she watched him drinking. “Naaah…” she breathed out as she started looking for a vacant table around, a wide smile on her lips. She spotted one not too far away and motioned Steve to follow her.

They both sat and watched people dancing for a few minutes, neither speaking. The music was a bit too loud to have a real conversation anyway, even when you weren’t on the dance floor. Claire then noticed Steve finishing his glass and she suddenly realized that hers was still half filled. She took quick sips, aware that she might bother Steve if she was taking too long. She also wanted to go dancing again.

As she finished her drink, she suddenly got this feeling of dizziness and euphoria when you were drinking too fast. “Gah, not good,” she thought to herself as she stood up. It wasn’t like she was drunk. It would take a lot more alcohol than that to make a Redfield drunk, but she could still feel the consequences of her fast drinking. Steve also stood up and she couldn’t miss the look of utter joy on his face. _Well, I can say that HE is drunk._

“You okay, Steve?” she asked, unable to not grin at him.

“Oh yeah! I’m perfectly fine!” he exclaimed back as he took a step forward and almost fell down all over the small round table. “Whooops!”

The girl burst out laughing in response, something she normally wouldn’t have done, but the heat and the alcohol were fogging her mind. However, she could still tell that she was in control of her body and common sense.

“You think your enhanced senses cause you to feel more the effect of alcohol?” she then asked, as she got closer to him, their bodies hovering over the table.

The young man seemed to regain more of his composure in light of her question. He just shook his head, chuckling. “No, I don’t think so. It’s just my first time, you know,” he then explained nonchalantly until his expression completely changed for some reason. Claire quickly realized that his eyes were perfectly aimed at her wide cleavage. Her hovered position was giving him quite a view she noticed. But instead of angering her, or insisting her to slap him back to his senses, Claire found a certain…satisfaction with him looking at her that way, obviously thrilled by her exposed skin. She could even say that it _excited_ her. Purposely, she brought her arms closer to her torso, making her generous blossom slightly bulge out of her ruby top. Despite the music, she could hear her male companion gasp at the sight. Maybe realizing that his staring went unnoticed, he set back his eyes on Claire’s, a nervous smile on his lips. She could even see him gulping, his Adam’s apple bobbling.

“Oh, uuhh….” He blurted out.

“Yes, Steve?” sweetly replied Claire, trying very hard to play the innocent act.

“L-let’s go dance! This song is good!” he joyfully exclaimed, pointing the dance floor.

The young woman took a moment to listen to the song playing, seeming to put the audience on fire. As she recognized the lyrics and beat, she turned her head back at Steve, her eyebrows cocking.

“The Pussycat Dolls? Really?” she then said.

“P-pussy…what?” replied Steve, confusion filling his whole face.

“Awww, c’mon!” Claire suddenly exclaimed as she harshly grabbed his hand and pulled him once again in the now bigger crowd of dancing young adults. The girl actually liked the song, but she found funnier to tease the redhead with it.

It was harder to find an empty spot this time, but as Claire kept looking around, strangers bumping into her and Steve now and then, she found a few square feet of spare place. She hastily went for it, her hand still firmly holding Steve’s. She could feel warmth radiating from it. Now successfully gaining the empty spot, the two young adults positioned themselves one in front of the other, their bodies dangerously close. Not only his hand was warm, but his whole body; Claire could feel it as she started dancing on the sensuous beat of the song, her hips, knees and chest lightly brushing against his body. Unlike earlier, the Burnside boy immediately followed the dance, his whole body smoothly moving in sync with Claire’s. She then felt him moving closer to her, his arms and legs making sure to not really touch her. A sense of mild irritation filled her, caused by his lack of boldness. She decided to take the initiative and placed a hand on his toned chest, making it look like a dance move.

Steve immediately looked down on her, feeling her body getting even closer to his, the red and blue and purple lights of the club making the sweat on her cleavage and shoulders shimmer in the hot air of the dance floor. Her blue eyes also seemed to glow and her full rosy lips suddenly became inviting. But he resisted the urge and tried to not focus on his growing arousal. Instead, he imitated his date’s move and placed one of his hands on her partially naked hip. It seemed to be a good reaction as Claire placed her free hand over it and started to make it rub her skin in small circles. A knot appeared in the young man’s throat as he could start feeling the heat mounting between them.

Claire could also feel it as she kept on making Steve touch her hips and back and even a bit of her flat abdomen. Alcohol or not, she could no longer deny her growing desire for the man, as she started to rub his torso with her hand and grind her hips against his, causing him to gasp in surprise and delight. She felt him freeze for a second, but when the classic hit song _Hot in Here_ by Nelly started to play, he seemed to find the courage to finally make his move on her, much to her pleasure. Slowly, both of his hands made their way around the small of her waist down to her incredible rear, squeezing her two buttocks lovingly.

The young woman cried out unexpectedly, her voice luckily drowned in the loud waves of the music. She quickly looked at Steve and saw a coy smirk on his face. He looked quite satisfied of her reaction as he slowly started to caress her buttocks, making her grasp his shirt with shuddering hands. He could hear her emit a soft moan as she pushed her body closer to his, their midsections now touching. It didn’t seem to affect her much, but Steve knew she was aware of the hardness hidden in his pants. No use in hiding it from her now…

As they kept on dancing, Steve making them both sway to the music, his hands still jealously placed on her rear, Claire started to rub his chest and arms with her hands; she seemed eager. When the young man looked down on her and squarely met her eyes, he was surprised to see small tears in them. But he immediately knew from the smile she was bearing that those were tears of happiness, not sadness. And that almost made him cry as well.

She was probably as happy as he was to be reunited with her after so many years. And the look on her face and the emotions that were flowing in her eyes convinced him to slowly lean down and meet her soft lips with his.

Their first kiss.

Yet, it felt as if they had been together for a long time. As if they had shared that happiness before. Maybe in bittersweet dreams…

It felt new, yet so familiar. But no matter what, it felt _right._

It felt right like it was feeling right to spend a Saturday evening in a dance club with someone you hadn’t seen in seven years. With someone you thought you had lost forever.

When he had placed his lips over Claire’s, the young man hadn’t expected the girl to respond to the kiss with such passion. Still clinging to his shirt, she had forced her way through his mouth with her tongue, making Steve loudly moan. It took him a moment to actually reply to it, but when he did, it was with eagerness and hunger.

The music kept blaring; the people kept dancing around them. Claire and Steve didn’t care. They were on their own. In their own world. Embracing and touching and kissing. Emotions they had kept locked deep inside them for so long suddenly started to get free. Their body wanted more. Their mind wanted more.

But this little perfect reverie came to an end the second they parted their mouth to fuel their lungs with oxygen.

Neither Steve nor Claire expected what was going to happen next.

Not far from them, maybe two or three persons in the way, Claire noticed a familiar face. At first, she couldn’t put her finger on it but as she saw the man turning his head in her direction, his face lighting up with recognition, she immediately knew it was Andrew.

Andrew Summerson. One of her co-workers.

_Oh fuck…_

Oh fuck indeed. Andrew had been asking her out for _months_ now. She didn’t know how it had happened. He had been working for Terra-Save ever since she joined them in 1999, but it was only recently that he had noticed her and had seemingly grown on liking her, to the point of almost harassing her with his babbling about her and him being meant to be together.

At first, she had kindly told him she wasn’t interested. He hadn’t seem to press on, but when he had somehow learnt that she was single and not dating anyone, he had come back to her again, asking her why they couldn’t at least date for one night, see if it would work.

She had thought about many replies. Like telling him she was gay. Or that she was still living with her sick mother. Or that she was actually in love with someone else. But out of all these plausible reasons, she had told him that she wasn’t ready to have a serious relationship with someone. Taken aback, he then had hinted they could still have some fun together from times to times (she had translated that to “have sex with you from times to times”) and that had been enough for her to get mad at him and reject him squarely.

But despite all that, he was a tough cookie. He hadn’t wanted to give up. And now here he was, in the _Red Lagoon_. The same night she had decided to go dance with someone she hadn’t seen in years. Thinking he had been _dead_.

_Coincidence?_

She didn’t think so as she saw him walking toward her and Steve. It was obvious that he hadn’t noticed the man dancing with her because when he got closer, his face went deadly pale.

And immediately turned tomato red right after.

He was mad, and Claire almost felt like laughing at him. But the situation was a bit too serious to take lightly.

“Hey! Hi Andrew!” she said as she removed herself from Steve’s embrace, leaving the young man speechless.

“Hi…” started the other man, as he wildly eyed the redhead standing beside her for a few seconds, before returning her smile “…Claire.”

She could clearly hear the tension in his voice over the loud music.

_Not good…this is not good…_

“What are you doing here?” she then asked innocently, trying to stay friendly with her co-worker.

“I could ask you the same,” swiftly replied the tall man (he was even taller than Steve). “I didn’t know you were…dating someone” he added as he slowly puffed his chest and tried to intimidate Steve by hovering over him.

“Oh, this is Steve. An old friend of mine! From high school! We haven’t seen each other in years, you see!” she explained while keeping a wide smile on her face. “Right, Steve?”

It took a few seconds for the redhead to actually react as he was too busy at keeping a growing fury inside of him. “Huh, yeah. I mean, I haven’t seen Claire in so long! I’m currently doing a road trip and I happened to pass where she’s living,” he said, trying to look convincing. But the look on Andrew’s face told him that he wasn’t buying. At all.

“Wow, what a coincidence then! Right after the Harvardville incident. Isn’t it weird, Claire?” said Andrew, his voice getting colder than steel.

“I don’t see what this has to do…” replied Claire, as she took a few steps back instinctively.

“I don’t know what it means either, but all I know is that you’ve been rejecting me all this time, saying that you weren’t ready to have a relationship, and now, I suddenly see you in the arms of a total stranger, ready to tear off his clothes and suck his dick!” he shouted, making the people dancing around them suddenly stop moving. Even the music seemed to have lowered down.

“W-what…”

Claire couldn’t find her words. She knew he could be a total jerk, but he had never been that harsh with her. And as she tried to find something to say back, she felt Steve moving beside her. Before she could stop him, he was already standing in front of Andrew, clearly shorter than him, but he was bulkier. AND he had the virus. Even though Claire couldn’t tell what he was capable of now that he was infected with t-Veronica, she still knew that her co-worker would lose the fight.

But fortunately, Steve didn’t look like he was about to punch him or anything. She just heard him say:

“Leave us alone,”

Looking down on him, Andrew just laughed at him. “And what if I don’t?” he asked, flexing his arms.

“Then, get the fuck out” groaned the redhead as he swiftly grabbed his right wrist and crushed it lightly, but enough to make the other man grimace in pain. Steve then quickly grabbed Claire’s hand and led her out of the dance floor in less than three seconds.

It didn’t take much time for them to grab their jacket, call a taxi, and leave the Red Lagoon in the direction of Claire’s apartment.

It hadn’t ended as perfectly as it had started, but the best of the night was yet to come…


	4. Chapter 4

Their ride home seemed endless. The two young adults left the _Red Lagoon_ more excited than when they'd entered it. There was a bit of the adrenaline coming from the confrontation with Andrew, but Claire knew it was mainly due to their exploding hormones. And maybe a little bit because of the alcohol…but not that much. It wasn’t like they were drunk. Not after only having had one simple drink…

They'd almost burst into her apartment when they got back, the door flying open and scaring Claire’s kitten for dear life. The feline had gone to hide itself somewhere for the rest of the night. They didn’t even notice as they were too preoccupied to take off their shoes while French kissing.

The second they were done, Steve had pushed Claire against the wall of the hallway, his breathing heavy with anticipation, anxiousness and a hint of sweet alcohol. The girl didn’t show the slightest sign of resistance as she let Steve pin her against her wall, lifting her up entirely from the floor, his arms solidly holding her thighs, his lips kissing her own hastily. She moaned with deep hunger when he pushed his hips forward, making their midsections touch in an electrifying way.

“How…how about we take this to my bedroom?” suggested Claire as she broke from their fiery kiss, panting heavily.

“Why? Don’t you like it here?” replied the redhead, smirking as he started to lightly kiss her neck. He suddenly stopped when he felt her not moving at all. He then looked at her face and saw that she wasn’t joking.

_Well, miss doesn’t like it kinky, it seems…_

“Well, then…”

As Claire was about to wonder what the man had in mind, she was surprised to feel herself being lifted up in the air. She couldn’t suppress a yelp of surprise as Steve placed her in his arms bride-style.

“What are you doing?” she asked while looking at him with a deep frown on her face.

“I am your knight in shiny armor, aren’t I?” he replied grinning as he started to head for her bedroom like they were a newly-wed couple.

“For a knight in shiny armor, you’re not really wearing much protection.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m gonna need it, huh?” he added when he reached the door of Claire’s bedroom.

“I…I mean the armor, you silly…” quickly replied Claire as she suddenly stiffened in Steve’s arms.

“Wait…aren’t you on the pill?” asked Steve as he stopped on his track, a feet from the bed.

“I am, but…you’re…infected, aren’t you?” she barely whispered, feeling anxious for the first time since they got back from the club.

“I am not contagious if that’s what you’re asking,” replied Steve smiling back at her, his eyes sad for some reason.

“Then…”

“And I am also infertile, so no worries, you won’t end up having mutant babies,” he laughed half-heartily. “They made countless tests on me to prove it…”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine. At least, I’m alive, huh?” he said right before he threw her on the comfy bed. The girl barely had time to react as she landed on her cushions and her stuffed doll Mollie, a squeaky sound escaping from her lips.

“Hey! What was that for---” Claire managed to say before she found herself trapped under Steve’s body. The young man was hovering over her, his hands planted on each side of her face, a dangerous smile plastered on his lips. She could feel her whole body boiling as she stared into his green eyes. Despite the contacts, she could still see the longing in them and that made her react violently in the lower region of her body.

_It’s really been a long time…_

Unsure of what to say or do, Claire stretched out her arms and laced them behind his neck, pulling him down on her, their lips crashing once more, their kisses getting more passionate by the second.

Now lying together in Claire’s bed, they had passed the border and Steve took this as a sign to push things a bit further as his hands slowly slipped under the girl’s flimsy top, feeling her incredibly hot and soft skin, and finally reaching firm and perfect breasts. Claire moaned in their kiss as he started to slowly massage them, careful to not touch too often her sensitive little spots. The girl squirmed under him and she started to claw his shirt, obviously telling him to take it off. The young man smiled and finally broke their breathless kiss as he stood up on his knees to remove his upper clothing. He was surprised to hear Claire giggling after exposing his bare torso.

“What?” he asked, frowning.

“Oh uh…it’s nothing…just that…last time I was in that situation, the guy didn’t really have your shape…” she explained, her cheeks as red as cherries.

“Are you saying I’m fat?” replied the man, offended. 

Claire just giggled harder in reply. “Far from it…quite the opposite actually. He was quite the average guy…” she said looking sideways, almost ashamed of telling him about her past experience.

“And I’m not?” said back the young man as he tried to look at her in the eyes.

Claire returned the gaze and lifted up her head to kiss him softly on the lips. “Not…really.” She then placed her hands on his bare torso and started to caress it lovingly while planting soft kisses on his cheeks, neck and lips.

The man shuddered at her touches. He then felt her playing with the buckle of his belt and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. It was the first time he got that close to a girl. Quite pathetic for a guy of his age, but he couldn’t really complain since this was Claire Redfield we were talking about. Claire _friggin’_ Redfield. The girl who had haunted his dreams for so long. The girl he had longed to see again, even to the risk of putting his second life in danger. The girl he had fallen in love with seven years before. The girl, no, _young woman_ , he was still in love with. It had been clear to him back on the dance floor. His feelings for her hadn’t changed. They only seemed to have multiplied.

“…you’re quite something to look at,” she continued, smirking softly. For some reasons, she had stopped playing with his belt buckle and seemed to stare at something near his navel.

“Claire…?” Steve almost felt like laughing, wondering why the hell she was looking at his navel when he _understood_. 

He understood that she was looking at his old – and gruesome – scar, the one created by the wound that killed him back in that cold and damned Antarctic base. 

“Steve…that’s…”

“Yeah…” he sighed, suddenly not really feeling in the “mood” any longer. He was then surprised when Claire gently touched his scar with the tip of her fingers. A sad expression enveloped her face and Steve was now convinced their making-out session was completely over. But the young woman seemed to think otherwise as she placed herself on her knees at the same level as the redhead. Her hands continued to wander on his torso and arms, one of her hands stopping on his prisoner tattoo from Rockfort. He had tried to remove it in any way he could, but it was permanent. Like his scar, a constant reminder of his past life.

Fortunately, Claire didn’t linger too long and even though he could tell she had questions she wanted to ask, about his condition, about his feelings, about the Organization, she had decided to ask the only thing he didn’t expect her to:

“So, um…is this your first time?”

There was no need to lie. Not with her.

“What if it is?” he replied, trying his best to look nonchalant as he slowly brought his hands to her curvy hips.

“Nothing wrong with that…I mean…I haven’t done it since college, to be honest,” she admitted, feeling the heat in her face and in the rest of her body rising.

“You’re serious?”

“What, you look disappointed,” she smiled as she finally returned to his belt, this time successful at unbuckling it, making the young man stiffen a little.

“N-no…it’s just…I would have thought that after all those years…” he managed to reply, his breathing getting heavier as he felt Claire sliding his pants down his thighs. _This…we’re actually doing it…_

“After all those years what? That I would have slept around with many people?” she said back, feeling a bit offended. It was her body that was now stiff.

Steve heavily sighed in response, feeling the need to disconnect himself from her. “No…I would have thought that maybe…you would be married with kids….or at least had a boyfriend at some point,” he explained trying to return the situation to something a bit more positive.

“Well, it didn’t seem to bother you one bit to know that I was still single…”

“At this moment, but this doesn’t mean that in the past…”

“Hush.”

A warm finger against his lips stopped him from aggravating their discussion. The same finger that had convinced him to stay with her that night.

“So, the story is that we are both pathetic.”

“We are?”

“Yep. You’re still a virgin at your age and I didn’t get any for more than seven years. That’s a bit pathetic, no?” she said and started to laugh as realization hit her completely. And despite how absurd it was and maybe that was the reason, Steve also laughed at the absurdity of their discussion and situation.

“Well, I’m sorry, but I do have the excuse that I was kept inside a capsule for five years,” said Steve as he moved forward and completely laid Claire down on the bed, stretching her legs so he would stand over her once again. As she had done to him, he slowly removed her jeans and immediately noticed something on her left leg. A bandage was wrapped around it and it was a bit dark from blood.

“What’s this?” he said while lightly touching it. He could tell the blood was still fresh. He could _smell_ it.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just a wound I got at the Wilpharma facility…it’s nothing bad or any—” she explained but soon got cut off as Steve started to slowly massage it with the tips of his fingers.

“Does it hurt?” he asked a moment after, feeling the girl tremble a little under his touch.

“A little…” she inhaled, her eyes closing at the slightly burning sensation.

“Sorry…” added the man, replacing her leg on the bed. He then slowly crawled over her, the thundering sound of his heart beating resonating with hers. He could hear it so clearly, it was crazy. And for a few seconds, they just stared at each other, their skin tingling with anticipating, their lips wanting more. Neither dared to speak, letting the silence surround them. At last, after what seemed forever, Steve decided to free Claire from the ruby top that was still lingering over her generous blossom, the view making him draw in his breath. She was so beautiful. So perfect despite all the battle scars he could spot on her smooth skin. They were the proof she was a survivor. A fighter. He could feel her gaze upon him as he kept burning her bare splendor into his mind. It would probably take some time before they’d see each other again he thought sadly. But he rapidly put those thoughts aside, it wasn’t the time and Claire was clearly growing impatient.

“You’re so…beautiful,” he hoarsely said as he started to trace the contours of the girl’s left breast with warm fingers.

He could feel her tremble again, but this time he knew it was from pleasure. He kept caressing her, his other hand fully cupping her unattended breast, squeezing it lightly and grazing the tip with his thumb. Claire emitted a soft groan and Steve was suddenly afraid that he wasn’t doing the right thing. It was silly to think that while he was quite aware from his lover’s face that she was enjoying it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that what he was doing wasn’t enough.

He continued to caress her chest, his hands now moving up to her neck and down to her stomach, his lips making contact with hers now and then. Claire moaned when he started sucking on her neck. It gave him more confidence to go further as he guided his left hand down between her legs. But before he could do anything, she stopped him.

“Wait…” she said almost breathlessly.

Steve immediately stopped any movement, fearing he might have hurt her. “What is it?”

But instead of replying, the brunette rose from the bed and placed her hands on Steve’s broad shoulders. She then gently pushed him upward so the two of them could stand face to face on their knees. She sweetly smiled at him before closing the gap between them and kissing him once more on the lips, her tongue gaining immediate access to his mouth. Steve froze for a second, but then succumbed to the fiery kiss as he replied to it with force, his hands now traveling all over her body. Claire moaned in surprise when he clumsily grabbed her buttocks.

Steve quickly retreated back from her body, looking a bit embarrassed.

“I’m sorry…I’m all over the place…”

“It’s okay…just relax…”

“I’m…trying…” he sighed, looking sideways.

Claire smiled in reply, “Let me…”, as she delicately took his hands in hers and placed one over her left breast and the other between her legs. The red-head gasped at how warm and damp her undergarment was. He didn’t move his eyes from hers as she now placed her own hands over his toned chest. He looked for a sign of approval, but was a little surprised when she started to move on her own, making his hands slowly rub her body. She immediately uttered a soft moan and it didn’t take long before Steve caught the reason behind her doing as he started to move his two hands, slowly, making sure to put the pressure at all the right places. The girl shuddered under his touches, her knees bending.

“Ahh….like that….” she hotly ushered as she wrapped her arms around his torso, her face pressed against his neck, her breath hot against his skin. It sent a violent shock down his body and more precisely around his arousal. It was getting more and more uncomfortable. He didn’t want to rush things, but he couldn’t wait all night. His right hand left the young woman’s breast only to bring it under her chin so he could kiss her again. She didn’t resist as she let him explore her mouth once more, his other hand now boldly moving inside her underwear, his large calloused but warm fingers tentatively caressing her sensitive flesh. She felt like screaming but she let it die in their kiss. He first let his fingers glide along her folds, and then took the initiative to insert one of them inside, making the girl break their kiss.

“Oh, Steve…” she hastily moaned, her hands now gripping his shoulders.

“So…how…am I doing so far?” he asked breathlessly as he started to slowly move his finger.

“N-Not bad…for a rookie,” she smirked, now deciding to take over, her hands leaving Steve’s shoulders and traveling down to his boxers. The feeling of his arousal through her palm made her shiver. It was erratically throbbing, wishing to be set free. She could hear the young man gasp in delight the second she started to fondle it.

“You’ve been holding up all night, didn’t you? It must hurt…” she said as she kept on caressing him through the fabric of his underwear.

Steve drew in his breath as he felt himself getting to the edge. In reply, he moved a little more rapidly between the girl’s thighs, making her emit a heated moan of pleasure.

“Not my fault, princess…” he started, his hot breath against her right ear. “Wearing those clothes you wore…should be illegal…”

“Poor thing…why don’t you remove what’s left then?” she chuckled, tugging at her black panties.

The red-head took a moment to contemplate the view, Claire Redfield in all her naked beauty, minus the flimsy piece of clothing hanging from her lovely hips, her hair still pulled in a loose ponytail. Her muscular stomach was rising rapidly; the tips of her breasts were hard and had this lovely rosy color. He still couldn’t believe it was happening.

“You don’t have to tell me twice…” he smiled as he took her in his arms and undid her ponytail much to the girl’s surprise. He watched her hair cascade down her shoulders and back. It was longer than he thought. Claire stared back at him, cocking an eyebrow.

“What? I always wondered how you looked with your hair down,” he replied in defense as he now moved his hands down to her undergarment.

“Satisfied?”

“Very,” he whispered as he let himself go down on the bed, his lips kissing her breasts, her stomach and then reaching her midsection. He grabbed the black fabric and slowly slid it down her legs and allowed the brunette to completely remove it. He could hear her breath getting heavier, her heartbeat increasing in pace. The fact that she was that excited to do this with him thrilled him entirely.

He stretched back up to face her again, placing his hand down to her warm entrance once again, letting his fingers do the magic work, a bit more intensely that time. Claire immediately reacted, her back arching as she let a loud moan escape her lips. She had grabbed his shoulders to steady herself. And unexpectedly, and almost harshly, she grabbed the young man’s underwear, and slipped it down to reveal his aching arousal. Steve gasped as the fresher air of the room made contact with his bare skin.

“Does it feel better?” asked Claire as she placed her hand on his toned stomach. He was surprised at how she could speak so clearly, her whole body was vacillating under his caresses.

“Y-yeah…” he managed to reply as he felt her hand slowly descending on his erection, her curious fingers lightly touching the tip and then the entire length. He kept looking at her in the eyes; she was smiling, obviously enjoying torturing him like that.

“And…how about that?” she added as she fully grabbed his sex with her hand. The young man loudly grunted, amazed by the way it felt. Her hand was so soft, yet her grip was strong and tender at the same time.

“It’s…great…” he uttered as he tried to continue pleasing the girl, but the task was getting harder and harder as she started to rub his sex quite vigorously.

“C-Claire…if you keep doing that, I’ll…”

As he said those words, the brunette immediately stopped, but kept her hand around him. “Oh, we don’t want that, do we?” she whispered in his ear as she slowly pushed her body against his so he could lay down the bed, her straddling him.

“You don’t mind me taking the top, I hope?” she then added as she slowly started rolling her hips against his erection.

“Uh…no…not at all…” he gasped out, feeling himself reaching an orgasm quite rapidly.

The young woman took a moment to look at him, his chest rapidly rising, his Adam’s apple moving in anticipation, his parted lips craving for more of her kisses. He was alive. He was truly alive; she had no doubt about it now. And the hot flesh pulsing against her right inner thigh told her that a certain part of him was also quite alive at that moment. And it needed attention.

Claire smiled at that as she positioned herself, her back arching, her long hair falling down, caressing lightly Steve’s pectoral. She could hear him chuckle softly at the touch. She then leaned forward and met his lips with her own while she took his throbbing sex in her hand, leading it slowly to her warmth. The young man gasped as he felt himself entering the brunette, her tightness almost making him lose control.

“Oh…” he moaned against Claire’s mouth.

“How is it? Want to go deeper?” purred the girl, her breath extremely hot against his face. She had placed her hands on his shoulders and he could now feel her going all the way down. In a second, he completely disappeared inside her.

“Ahh, Steve…” she whispered while closing her eyes. She had stopped moving and both were now standing still, savoring the most intimate contact two people could have.

“You okay if I start to move?” finally said Claire after a few seconds, a hint of amusement in her eyes.

“Hey…I’m not that lame to come at the first-” started the redhead who was soon cut off by feeling the girl on top of him moving up her body, depriving his arousal from her incredible warmth. He then hissed loudly as she slowly went down. He could really sense an orgasm coming up. That was bad.

“Huh….you were saying?” smiled the young woman as she closed the distance between their bodies, her lips now kissing his neck.

“G-give me a minute…and I’ll be fine,” replied Steve as he embraced her, enjoying the feeling of her full firm breasts against his chest. He never could have dreamed that he'd be here with her, savoring this moment.

When he could finally feel his arousal lose a bit of its enthusiasm, he gently lifted the girl up so she would hover over him. They gazed at one other once more and when Steve saw the devilish grin on Claire’s face, he understood he was in for one hell of a ride.

And without saying anything, she started to move, more quickly this time and Steve thought he would never survive the night. The feeling was incredible and indescribable. It was like having jolts of warm lightning pierce your whole body. He then realized that his eyes were closed and when he opened them he witnessed the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Claire Redfield on top of him, her long reddish hair flowing with the movement of her body, her round breasts bouncing lightly at each stroke, her face flustered, and her mouth slightly open, letting out wonderful moans and gasps of pleasure. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined her like that. Keeping control was getting harder and harder as the young woman kept increasing the pace, her hands now holding his shoulders for support. Engulfed in his own pleasure, he brought his hands to her buttocks, holding them firmly and putting more pressure on the penetration.

“Oh, god..!” loudly moaned Claire as she threw her head back, feeling herself reaching her peak, Steve’s manhood getting harder by the second. He would also come if she didn’t stop. And as much as she wanted to let everything go, to experience that pure bliss, she sharply stopped moving, making her partner groan in utter dissatisfaction.

“Sorry mister knight…I don’t want it to end now…” she panted while smiling at the confused man.

“Do…do you know how much of a tease you are… right now?” he managed to reply, also panting heavily, clearly feeling his sex on the verge of exploding. He then thought he was done for when the girl removed herself from him.

“Will you ever stop complaining?” she said playfully as she rolled on her back, patting the mattress right beside her. “I’m giving you the chance to take the lead for once,” she finished, giving him the sexiest smile.

Steve stared at her for a few seconds, unable to move, unsure of what to do next. She was basically offering herself to him. Completely. But he wasn’t a fool. She certainly had something in the back of her mind. But she was offering and Steve found that he couldn’t refuse that kind of invitation.

Still smiling at him, Claire watched the redhead slowly rolling toward her, his whole body radiating warmth. And then, tentatively, he caressed the side of her body, her right breast, the curve of her hip and the beginning of her tight. And sneakily his fingers moved directly to her womanhood, causing her to loudly moan, her hands gripping the bed sheets around her.

The young man just returned her smile as he placed his body over hers. She gasped at the extra weight, but it was also comforting and the feeling of his almost hairless skin and hard sex excited her beyond imagination. She couldn’t wait; they were done with foreplay for the night.

“Come on…” she whispered as she longingly caressed his muscular back and arms.

“Impatient, are we?” he simply replied as he removed his fingers and slowly positioned himself. Unlike her, he didn’t want to be a tease and he swiftly entered her, his knees and heart immediately weakening at the contact of her incredible warmth.

“Ah yes…” she gasped out as he was fully inside her, their bodies glued together, their heartbeat in unison. They were a whole now and Steve wondered if he ever felt that content in his entire short life. He then slowly started to move but was quickly stopped as the girl held his arms firmly.

“What is it?” he frowned as he stared down at her. For some reasons, she looked embarrassed as she was looking sideways when she finally replied:

“Can…can you remove your…contacts?”

Of all the things she could have told him in that situation, he never expected that request.

“My contacts? Why?” he chuckled as he tried to read her expression. He then felt her tightening around him which made him gasp in surprise.

“Don’t tell me…they _turn you on_?” he then said, baffled. The young woman kept avoiding his gaze as she bit her lower lip and shyly shook her head. Her fingers were now making circles on his back.

“Well, well…you’re surprising me here, Miss Redfield, I have to admit,” he replied as he pushed himself a bit from her body so he could remove them.

“Oh shut up…” she playfully whispered back as she finally returned her gaze on his face, watching him taking off his contacts confidently with the tips of his fingers. He then paused when he realized that their casing was in his pants.

“Fuck this…I’ll wear sunglasses tomorrow…” he said as he placed the useless accessory on Claire’s night table.

“You have others at work?” asked the brunette as she slightly moaned when the young man moved back his body over hers. He only nodded in reply and Claire sucked in her breath when she caught a glimpse of his golden eyes. In her dimly lit room, they were _glowing_ , almost like the reflecting eyes of a cat. And yes, they _did_ turn her on and she had no idea why, but the more she stared at them, the more she wanted him.

Steve understood it clearly. She was erratically pulsating around him, silently begging him to move. She would never say it and they both knew it. He went down on her and kissed her fully on the mouth, gently at first and when he started to slide in and out of her, she unexpectedly assaulted his lips and tongue, making him groan in raw passion. He could accept the pain if it meant he could please her as much as he wanted, any way he wanted. That encouraged him to go faster, his hands now firmly grabbing her breasts. She emitted a series of hot moans that brought him dangerously to the edge. He decided to slow down, but the young woman immediately grabbed his rear, forcing him to keep going at the same pace.

“D-Don’t stop…” she panted as she wrapped her legs around the redhead’s torso, increasing heavily the penetration and driving both lovers to the edge, Steve first, his whole body tensing as he took in the orgasm, and then Claire who bit the neck of the young man to prevent herself from screaming.

And for a few seconds, neither moved, enjoying the feeling of their warm bodies so intimately close.

“Do you think we woke up your neighbors?” finally said Steve, breaking the silence.

“I’m sure it pleased Miss Thompson,” replied Claire, trying to keep a straight face. He could see she was on the verge of laughing.

“Who’s that?”

“My neighbor on the left. She’s been teasing me about being single ever since I moved in here…so it wouldn’t surprise me if she’d been listening to us the whole time, eating popcorn,” explained the girl who finally burst out laughing.

“You joking! She must be like those crazy cat ladies who spend their afternoons watching sitcoms and waiting for their prince charming to take them away,” replied Steve who also started laughing.

“Hush! Don’t say that! But yeah, it’s mostly the case…” replied Claire, making her best to stop her giggles. But her reply increased Steve’s laughter and she found it impossible to suppress her own.

It lasted a few minutes, but it felt like eternity to Claire. How she wished things could remain that way. But she wasn’t naïve. She knew by the morning, Steve would have to go his way and who knew when they’d see each other again. She felt a strong pressure on her chest at the thought and found her longing for the man doubled.

She rolled a bit on her side so she could face the redhead. She then let her right index slowly caress his chest and stomach, going steadily down until she made him gasp with a wicked satisfaction.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” asked Steve as he also rolled a little so he could look at her in the eyes.

“Oh, I don’t know… abusing you, maybe?” she grinned back as she started to caress him slowly, and then gaining a bit of speed, making the young man moan.

“Claire…”

“You know…” started Claire as she suddenly stopped her ministrations and placed her body on top of Steve’s.

“We have at least seven years of catch-up to do…”

“That’s a lot…” replied Steve, cocking his eyebrow and lifting his hands to her hips.

“Exactly…so how about we continue working on that?” she grinned as she led him inside her once again.

“I…have no objection at all,” grinned back the young man, seeking her lips and letting her engulf him with pure bliss.

* * *

Claire woke up the next morning with an incredible feeling of completeness, satisfaction. It took her a while to understand the source of that state. Her legs ached. A lot.

She scoffed with amusement and turned to her left, expecting to see a young redheaded male by her side, but what she saw turned her blood cold. Beside herself, the bed was empty.

_No…_

Did he leave already? Or was what happened the last night just a dream? It couldn’t be. Not when her legs were still shaky and her skin a bit damp with sweat. Her bedroom also had the distinctive scent of love-making.

_Last night was real, but where’s Steve? Did he really…?_

She could almost instantly feel tears coming to her eyes, but she then heard something in her kitchen, some clanking sounds.

She stopped breathing for a few seconds and could positively hear someone moving around in her kitchen and that put her at ease right away. Swiftly putting on her red bathrobe and the corny rabbit slippers her brother gave her a few years ago for Christmas, she timidly walked out of her room and into the kitchen.

And there he was.

Steve was occupied fetching some ingredients in her fridge. He didn’t seem to notice her.

“Good morning,” she finally said, heading toward the kitchen counter, curious about what he was doing.

The man jumped a bit and turned around, a look of surprise and embarrassment in his face.

“Jesus! You scared me,” he replied, almost dropping the eggs on the floor.

“Wow and I thought you had enhanced hearing and all.”

“Normally yes, but I don’t know…I feel a bit distracted this morning…must be something to do with a certain girl and a crazy night,” he grinned back at her, deposing the eggs and checking if something was missing.

“A crazy night, huh? In a bad or good way?” she asked, understanding now that he wanted to make some pancakes.

“In a good way! You have no idea what this meant to me…I never had this much fun in…forever,” he said, staring at the mixing bowl. He suddenly seemed sad, almost on the verge of crying.

“Steve…” whispered the brunette, tenderly putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry! I thought about making some pancakes, is that okay with you?” he exclaimed back, hiding the sadness from his face.

“Sure, I didn’t know you could cook though,” she smiled back, watching him starting to mix the ingredients.

“Haha, well, it’s pretty much the only thing I can cook,” he chuckled. “Go sit down and you’ll be able to taste Steve Burnside’s marvelous pancakes!”

“As long as you don’t poison me, boyo,” giggled back the woman, taking place at the table and watching him work. She took notice of his every move, of the way he looked at his pancake cooking in the pan with utter concentration (in the daylight, his golden eyes looked almost normal, honey-like), how his lips were pursing, how the muscles of his forearms were flexing. She wanted to remember everything, because she knew he was going away that morning. And she had no idea if they would see each other again. The thought made her heart ache painfully.

When Steve was done cooking, they ate with gusto – Claire wondered if her ferocious appetite was due to all that “exercise” from the last night – and talked about anything they could think of. It was jovial and Claire was grateful for it.

After they were satiated, Claire offered Steve to take a shower before leaving. He teasingly asked her to come with him, but she kindly declined saying that her little shower wasn’t big enough for the two of them.

He was done so quickly that Claire didn’t have time to think about what was going to happen next. When she saw him gathering his things, which was barely anything, she realized that he was really going away. Leaving her side once again.

He had put on his jacket and was now waiting by the door, obviously unsure of what to say, what to do.

“Claire…”

“I know: you have to go…”

“You know I’d stay, but…I can’t…” he whispered, looking down.

The young woman slowly approached him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly.

“Will we see each other again…?” she whispered, trying her best to not cry. It was so hard now that she was living the moment she dreaded the most.

“Of course we will…I just don’t know when…” replied the redhead, hugging her back.

“You can’t tell me this…not after showing up like you did last night,” said the woman, looking at him in the eyes.

“It wouldn’t be wise to meet again soon…and we would have to meet somewhere else. It would be too dangerous if I come back here.”

“I get that…so what’s the plan?”

“I will contact you in four weeks…don’t be surprised, it will probably be a coded message; I can’t take too many risks.”

“How will I know it’s from you?”

“Oh, you’ll know” he winked back at her, managing a weak smile.

“Steve…”

Claire didn’t know what to say and was somehow thankful when Steve kissed her tenderly. That was what she needed the most. Promises, you couldn’t count on those. She learned her lesson back in 1999. But, that kiss and all that it represented, she could hold on to that. She could hope.

Hope that she could taste those lips again. And again.

She could feel his mouth tremble against hers. Instinctively, she pulled his head and deepened their kiss, never wanting to let go.

It was hard to break up, so hard. But it had to be done. Both knew it.

“I have to go…”

“I know…” whispered Claire, biting her lip hard.

The young man turned around and opened her door. Before he could step outside, she stopped him. Steve mentally cursed; it was already hard enough for him to leave her behind. If he was staying there a minute longer, his determination would crumble and he didn’t know what would happen next. Nothing good anyway.

“Claire…” he said, a warning tone in his voice.

“You forgot to put on your sunglasses,” she smiled at him.

_Oh._ Steve smiled back and searched his pocket for the shades. He then walked away.

Claire stepped out of her apartment and watched him go. She had the sudden urge of running after him, but she restrained herself.

“Steve! Just so you know: I won’t wait for you forever! Seven years was already too long!”

The man didn’t look back. He just kept on walking and Claire couldn’t blame him because deep down, she knew that behind his sunglasses, he was crying like she was.


	5. Chapter 5

Do you remember when you were kid and you couldn't wait for Christmas day to come? That wait was never-ending, the winter days stretching and slow...so slow. But then would come the week before that special day and enthusiasm would build and build...and one morning, you would finally wake up and be filled with joy and magic at the sight of the wrapped gifts under the tree, the delicious smell of cookies in the oven and the warm embrace of your parents.   
  
But for Claire, the wait was just never-ending. Period.   
  
He had said a month or so, didn't he? It's now been five weeks and while the young woman kept telling herself that it was normal, that he couldn't contact her for some reason, a little voice inside her head was whispering to her that he might have been punished or worse, killed, after knowing that he got to see her.   
  
But if it was the case, wouldn't have they gone for her too?  
  
That reasoning was the only thing keeping her hoping. But it had been five weeks now and she was growing more than impatient.   
  
Not a day would pass without recalling that incredible and almost surreal night with that redhead man back from the dead.   
  
The softness of his lips, the heat of his kisses, the harsh yet wonderful feel of his body against hers...  
  
Images from that night were playing in repeat in her head and recalled sensations kept appearing all over her body. Focusing at work was hard. It was the first time she's been that sexually frustrated in her whole life.   
  
And on top of all this, she had to deal with Andrew's bullshit. The Monday she went to work after that weekend with Steve, he gave her the cold shoulder at first but then became a total asshole, asking her multiple questions about who was that "friend" and why she never mentioned him instead of pretending to not want a relationship with someone.   
  
It took all her might to not break his pathetic neck. She just kept on telling him that he was an old friend with whom she never got to develop a real relationship.   
  
He just got angrier but when their boss, Neil Fisher, got wind of the harassment, Andrew suddenly changed department.   
  
Good riddance.   
  
Now Claire was left longing even more to see her long-lost friend. Days were long and always ended up the same way: not a single sign from Steve.   
  
But on that Thursday night, when she opened her mail box, she noticed something that she thought at first to be junk mail, but it was a postcard.   
  
From Hawaii.   
  
Hawaii? Did someone she knew go there for a vacation?  
  
She couldn't recall.   
  
The girl flipped the card and what she saw made her heart skip a beat.   
  
A series of numbers.   
  
A code.   
  
Of course Hawaii! They had been joking about this when they escaped from the prison!  
  
Steve sent her that postcard with a code, no doubt about it!  
  
She clutched it to her chest and quickly entered her apartment where she took a closer look.   
  
Oh you clever boy, she smirked.   
  
At first the numbers didn't make sense but after some brainstorming she came to the conclusion that they were coordinates, a date and a specific time.   
  
All that time solving Umbrella's silly puzzles actually paid off!  
  
The date suggested two weeks from then, at 7pm. As for the coordinates, she didn't dare using her computer and decided to fetch her old road maps.   
  
It was on a lonely road between two small towns not too far from where she lived. She guessed there was a restaurant or a motel there where they could meet.   
  
Utter excitement started to boil in her veins. He kept his promise and she was going to see him again.   
  
*****  
  
Two weeks seemed so far. But the following days went by quickly and before she realized it, it was the day of her "secret meeting" with Steve. The thought created butterflies in her stomach.   
  
Good thing there was plenty of work for her that day at the office or else she would have grabbed her keys and disappeared before anyone would notice. But people did notice her excitement, her who was normally more reserved at work.   
  
She only brushed it off saying that she was seeing a high school friend (a girl!) she hadn't seen in forever.   
  
It worked.   
  
The day over and done, she didn't lose a second and went back home where she had already packed a bag with some necessities. She didn't know what would exactly happen but you could never be too sure. She didn't forget her pistol either. She didn't like the idea of bringing it, but she couldn't risk it. It could be a trap for all she knew...  
  
"No....I'm sure it's not..."  
  
But precaution was better than naivety.   
  
After petting her cat for a minute and giving it plenty of food and water, she grabbed her things and embarked on her motorcycle.   
  
*****

  
The ride went very smoothly. It took about 2 hours before she arrived at her destination.   
  
Like she suspected, there was a motel, a gas station and a dinner, everything cleverly placed together for sleepy or hungry travelers.   
  
The motel was called the Apple Inn. A couple of cars were parked. She wondered by what mean Steve was travelling. When she noticed a black Jeep, she had the feeling that it could be it.   
  
Now, where to look first? She decided to park her bike at the motel. Her best bet was there, the man probably didn't want to bring too much attention. But how to know which room was the good one? He hadn't left a clue about it...  
  
"And I can't ask about the guests either, that would look suspicious..."  
  
As the young woman was leaning against her bike, lost in thoughts, she heard a door opening.   
  
A man clad in dark clothes came out of Room 11.   
  
His distinctive red hair gave him right away. Claire couldn’t suppress the grin on her face. She didn’t move from her spot, watching the man get some ice from the dispensing machine outside the rooms and then walking back to his own room.   
  
A few minutes later, the young woman headed for that exact room, knocking softly on the door and taking deep breaths.   
  
It barely took seconds before the door opened and revealed a familiar face.  
  
“Claire…as expected, you–“  
  
The young woman didn’t let him finish his sentence as she roughly attacked his mouth with her own, while making sure to close the door behind them. Maybe a little bit violently, but she didn’t care.  
  
“Whoa, hey!” managed to say Steve between two heated kisses. “Shouldn’t we talk about–  
“Let’s keep the talking for later, shall we?” finished the brunette, pushing her friend on the bed and taking off her clothes expertly.  
Burnside didn’t say a word in return and showed no resistance whatsoever. Claire took it as total consent as she helped him strip off, their mouth and hands not leaving each other, like magnets.   
  
*****  
“Jesus girl… you clearly needed it, didn’t you?” finally chuckled Steve, his bare body still glistering with sweat in the poor light of the room.  
  
“Ha… don’t give yourself too much credit, boyo…” replied Claire, grinning and moving her own naked body to face him. “But yeah… I _kinda_ needed it. With the way you left me and all…”  
  
“Knew it,” whispered the man, grinning back.   
  
Claire playfully punched his shoulder in reply. “I’m sure I was ALL that you could think about,” she said mockingly.  
  
“YOU are the only thing I think about Claire, or else I would go mad in that place…” replied Steve, his eyes suddenly serious.  
  
Claire’s grin disappeared and she felt the need to cover her body, sitting up in the rather cheap – and very squeaky – bed.  
  
Steve did the same, covering his midsection and sighing heavily.

“Serious talk?” he asked.  
  


“Serious talk,” replied Claire.  
  
The young woman took a moment to search her words, not sure how she could express everything that was in her head. She tried anyway:  
  
“Look, Steve… as much as I am happy to see you again – and the sex is great -, at that Steve made a “you know it” face, we have to talk about what’s coming next.”  
  
“What do you mean?” frowned back the redhead.  
  
“Well, we can’t keep doing this forever: meeting in secret, having sex, and waiting again for God knows how long another chance to see each other. I don’t want us to end up being like Leon and that Ada Wong…”  
  
“Wait, what? You know Ada?”  
  
At that, Claire jerked a bit. “I briefly saw her back in Raccoon City, she was mostly with my friend Leon at that time. But I do know that they keep seeing each other in secret, despite being technically enemies…Leon refuses to see that she’s a double agent and might stab him in the back one of these days…. But my question now is: how do YOU know her?”  
  
Steve hesitated, cutting their eye contact.   
  
Claire was very tempted to push him, but she refrained from it when she saw him opening his mouth:  
  
“Ada… she’s the one who saved me.”  
  
“How so?”  
  
“From what people told me, this man, Wesker, dropped my body at some lab after he took what he needed. He told the staff to do whatever they wanted with it. They took some samples of my blood for some bioweapon work and they decided to destroy…me.”  
  
Steve looked at Claire as he said that and saw horror in her face, her hand covering her mouth.  
  
“But Ada, she was at that lab for some reason. And when she saw me in the test tube…I don’t know for sure what was her reason, she probably pitied me, but she had asked the scientists or whatever to keep me alive and find a more “humane” use of me. And so, it took a few years for me to be in complete symbiosis with T-Alexia and well, the rest is just…”  
  
“Just what?” frowned Claire.  
  
“Well, they put me in a training program, like a soldier. I told you that I do security jobs and scouting because of my immunity to the other viruses.”  
  
“I see…”  
  
“I’ll spare you the details, Claire, but I don’t enjoy being with them. I’d rather be with you for sure, but I have no idea how I can just escape and live happily ever after with you, without them chasing and killing us.”  
  
“Is that what you wish for? Living with me?” she asked, her expression hard to read.  
  
“Of course! Claire, I…I lov-”  
  
The young woman immediately cut him, pressing a finger against his mouth, harshly. She could see total confusion in his eyes and it pinched her heart.  
  
But hearing those words from him hurt much more. She didn’t know if she could call it PTSD but these simple words immediately brought her back to a world of darkness and infinite sadness. It was silly considering that Steve was with her at that exact moment, alive and well. But that part of her life shattered her so much that anything related to a romantic confession triggered her in the worst possible way.

They remained silent for a minute or two, Steve trying to figure out what he did wrong.   
  
“Claire…what…I thought…is it too soon?” he ushered, his thoughts in shamble.  
  
“I’m sorry…it’s just…don’t you remember?”  
  
“Remember what?”  
  
“Well, you know…back then, before you…’died’. What you told me?” she finished her sentence whispering, her eyes looking down.  
  
Steve’s memories of his last moments were still blurry but he did remember confessing to her, and now he regretted it. Of course, back then, he had nothing to lose, he was well aware that he was about to die. But his selfishness prevented him from thinking about how those words would affect Claire. When he “came back to life”, it was something that he would sometimes think about. He just had no idea that it had affected her that much.  
  
“Of course I remember…” he gloomily replied, also looking down. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that…”  
  
Claire didn’t say a word but he felt her hand squeezing his.   
  
Silence filled the room once more. Steve could tell that Claire was looking for the right words to say. She eventually broke the silence:  
  
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Steve…you just said what your heart told you to say. I can’t blame you for that…”  
  
“But I still hurt you, and it was never my intention….”  
  
“I know, but would you have said that or not, your death would have still affected me. I cared about you, Steve…” at that, she gently placed a hand on his left cheek, caressing it. Steve closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was warm this time. Claire could feel her eyes stinging. Before she could let tears fall down, she closed the gap between them and kissed him softly. Steve contently sighed in reply, his arms wrapping around her bare shoulders and bringing her closer to him.   
  
They both could feel the longing, but Claire wasn’t done talking. Reluctantly, she ended the kiss and left Steve’s warm embrace.  
  
“So….what do we do?” she asked.  
  
Steve just heavily sighed, scratching his head. “We can’t just run in the sunset. I would have to think of a plan to escape from them and make sure they’d never find us.”  
  
“You really think they’d be after you if you desert?”  
  
“I am an important asset to them, with my immunity and all…I’m sure they would.”  
  
“Crap…I don’t know if I could talk to my superiors, ask them to hire you and provide protection…”  
  
“You think they’d do that? What if they think I’m a spy or just a freak…”  
  
“We deal with bioweapons on a daily basis, even if it’s not on the front line. They would understand, I’m pretty sure…I could maybe ask Chris to help me with that…he might be able to convince them since he knows about you and our history…”  
  
“I don’t know Claire, that seems a bit farfetched…”  
  
“It’s worth trying, no?”  
  
“It’s too risky, I don’t want you to risk your job or your life…”  
“Then what’s the other alternative? Go into hiding, always fearing to get caught and killed? If you didn’t want me to risk anything, you shouldn’t have come see me then, Steve.”  
  
At that, Steve jerked back. She was right. The second he had decided to reveal his existence to her, he had already put her at risk. He didn’t know what to say. He could just stare down and clutch the bed sheet.  
  
“Steve…” he heard her whispering. He felt her warm hand over his.  
  
“If you hadn’t shown up and told me that you were alive, I would have never forgiven you.”  
  
Those words made him look back at her and he could see that she was dead serious. His throat swelled up.   
  
“I will talk with Chris, heck even with Leon. I’ll try to find a way for us to be together. I promise you that. And this time, I’m not breaking my promise. No matter what.”  
  
“Claire…”  
  
“Come here…” she said as she extended her arms and invited the young man in an embrace. Steve didn’t hesitate and hugged her back tightly. “We’ll make it work…”   
  
They remained connected for a good moment, enjoying the comfort and trying to collect their thoughts. The atmosphere had gotten tense but now they just wanted to make things right. Steve was the first one to break the silence.  
  
“So…how did you like my postcard? I hope it wasn’t too hard to understand.”  
  
“It was very clever, I have to admit. Even for you,” she teased, pushing a bit the young man from her.  
  
“Hey, I’m hurt,” replied back Burnside, grinning and pushing her back playfully. Claire let herself drop down on the bed, stretching her arms and bare chest. She looked at him with a suggestive smile.  
  
“How about…you show me in what other things you excel at other than puzzles?” she asked provocatively, slowly removing the bed sheet covering the rest of her body.  
  
Steve chuckled at that as he moved over her, kissing her cheeks and mouth at first and then steadily going down, kissing her chest, her abdomen, her hips, her inner thighs and then finally stopping between her legs.  
  
“I was always told that I had a slick tongue…want me to show you?”  
  
Claire didn’t know what to expect, but she could say later that night that Steve was definitely excelling in other things than puzzles.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning, Claire was woken up by the sunlight peering through the cheap curtains of the hotel room.

Groaning as quietly as possible, she got up to use the bathroom and then went back to the room to make some coffee (she was surprised that it was actually included). Her legs and back were sore like no tomorrow. The cheap bed was partly to blame, but it was mostly the fault of last night lovemaking. Not that it had been particularly rough, but when you don’t do it very often, it can be tough on your body. Claire took a mental note of how old she sounded. Doing it with a partner is definitely not the same thing…  
  
As the coffee was getting ready, she looked at the bed where Steve was still sleeping soundly. She could see his back and immediately frowned. It was covered in long thin scars. Old scars though. How did she not notice that after seeing him naked on more than one occasion now? Did he get those when he was a kid or on Rockfort Island? She felt her heart pinch. He had been through so much in so little years…he really needed a break from this cruel world.   
  
Sighing, she took a paper cup and poured herself some coffee. She sat down on one of the chairs and silently sipped her surprisingly drinkable beverage, still looking at the sleeping form of her lover, a sad look on her face.   
  
She almost had a heart attack when she heard her cellphone vibrating on her night table. She quickly went to reach it and felt her heart racing even more when she saw that it was Leon calling her.   
  
“Hello?”  
  
“Claire, it’s Leon. I don’t have much time to explain, but wherever you are, you have to get out of there.”  
  
“Wait, what? What do you mean?” She instinctively went to the window, opening the curtains. She didn’t see anything unusual in the motel parking.   
  
“Look. I know what you are up to. I know that you are with Steve Burnside. You can’t stay there, they’re looking for him.”  
  
“Wait wait wait. Who? Who’s looking for him, Leon?” Her raised voice finally woke up Steve, who was looking at her, frowning but also alert.   
  
“Terra-Save, your boss. They know.”  
  
“Neil, my boss? What the hell?”

“I don’t know what they intend to do with him, but I know they’re on their way to your location with capture gear and weapons. This won’t end well, Claire.”  
  
“Shit, shit, shit…” At that point, Claire was going in circles in the room, still fully naked. When she saw Steve awake, she pointed him to his clothes, to which he complied without saying a word.  
  
“How much time do we have?”  
  
“I can’t say at that point, but you better hurry.”  
  
“Thanks Leon, I’ll have to talk later with you about all this.”  
  
“Just be safe.”  
  
Claire nervously ended the call and quickly went for her clothes, dressing up as quickly as possible. Steve was almost done with his.   
  
“What’s going on?”  
  
“I’m not sure, but my organization is after you, they know we’re here, and Leon is pretty sure they’re not here to offer you a job.”  
  
“How the fuck do they know about this? You think your bike is bugged or your cellphone?”  
  
“I…I have no clue, Steve. Could be Andrew, I don’t know. But we have to move, now!”  
  
*****  
The second they left the room and headed to Steve’s Jeep, a convoy of vehicles entered the parking, tires screeching, doors opening, men clad in black tactical gear pouring out of them. Claire and Steve didn’t have time to do anything before they were cornered. Claire instinctively placed herself in front of her friend.   
  
Her senior, Neil Fisher, was indeed among the convoy. Claire’s mouth went dry.   
  
“Well, well, well. Look who’s here.”  
  
“What’s going on, Neil?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.   
  
“It happens you have something we want, Claire.”  
  
“Something?”  
  
Fisher just pointed his chin toward Steve, who was trying the best he could to stay calm.   
  
“That’s some **one** , and that’s my friend! I don’t know what you want from him, but he’s not going anywhere without his consent.”  
  
“Claire, Claire, Claire. I do hope you know **what** he is. I mean, from what I can gather, you’ve been seeing each other in secret and most likely not to play Scrabble.”  
  
“ _What_ do you want, Neil?” she asked again, her teeth clenching this time.  
  
“The humanoid B.O.W. behind you would be a really precious asset to our organization. I heard that he was immune to most weaponized viruses on the market. That’s really incredible.”  
  
“First of all, he’s a human being like us, and secondly, I was planning on asking Terra-Save to make him join our ranks as a mutual fighter against bio-terrorism, but you clearly don’t see things that way.”  
  
“Why didn’t you tell me that first, Claire? Why keep this a secret, uh?”   
  
“We had our reasons…”  
  
“I’m sure you did, but things are now that we kindly ask your _friend_ to come with us. Who knows, maybe he’ll be able to work alongside you, as a little pet B.O.W.” laughed Fish, his men joining him.  
  
Claire could feel a weird energy around her, and when she glanced back, she saw Steve breathing heavily, his first clenched, veins popping out on his arms, neck and face. His pupils had also turned red. He never told her he could… _transform_ , but that was exactly the impression she was getting.  
  
“Steve…” she harshly whispered. “Don’t make anything stupid, they could kill you…”  
  
Steve just stared back at her, not saying a word. She could tell he was about to make a move.  
  
“So? What is it gonna be? Is your friend coming with us or do we have to use force?”  
  
Claire took a long deep breath. She then exchanged another glance with Steve, hoping he would read her mind.  
  
Extending her arms in a protective stance, she simply shouted: “RUN, STEVE!!”  
  
Behind her, Steve hesitated for a second, a long second, but then clenched his teeth and all his muscles and made a run for the woods next to the motel.   
  
It happened so fast that Fisher and his men didn’t even register that their target was getting away from them while Claire stayed in place, her eyes shut, hoping they wouldn’t shoot her.  
  
And they didn’t. Neil ordered some of his men to go after Steve, while the others handcuffed her and led her to one of their vehicles. Before getting in, she looked at her senior with disgust:  
  
“I just lost any kind of respect I had for you.”  
  
“The feeling is mutual, my dear.”  
  
As she was driven back to town, Claire was hoping, her heart beating in her throat, that Steve had made it to safety. The last thing she wanted for him was to be a test subject, an experiment. She hoped her sacrifice hadn’t been in vain.

  
_To be continued_.  
  
  



End file.
